..  ^h. 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


■-  illM 

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•^  IIIIIM 

lll£ 


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1.8 


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1.4 

1.6 

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Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

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•4f 
(S°  Mis  ' 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


m 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


to 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
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which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
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the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


D 


a 


n 


n 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couvarture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagee 


□    Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurde  at/ou  pelticulee 

□    Cover  title  missing/ 
Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

□    Coloured  maps/ 
Cartes  gdographiques  en  couleur 


Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  at/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
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along  mterior  margin/ 

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distorsion  le  long  de  la  marge  interieure 

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appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajoutdes 
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mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  iti  film^es. 

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qu'il  lui  a  ete  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
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point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  m^thode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqu^s  ci-dessous. 


I      I    Coloured  pages/ 


D 


Pages  de  couleur 


Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagees 


□    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurees  et/ou  pelliculees 


Pages  dis'  oloured.  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  decolorees,  tachetdes  ou  piquees 


□    Pages  detached/ 
Pages  detachees 

0Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

□    Quality  of  print  vari( 
Quality  indgale  de  t' 


n 


es/ 
impression 


I      I    Includes  supplementary  material/ 


Comprend  du  materiel  supplementaire 

/  edition  available/ 
le  Edition  disponible 


□    Only  edition  available/ 
Seu 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc..  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc..  cnt  4t6  film^es  d  nouveau  de  facon  a 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


Th« 
poi 
of 
filnl 


Ori 
be{ 
the 
sioi 
oth 
firs 
sior 
or 


Tha 
sha 
TIN 
whi 

Mai 
diffi 
enti 
bag 
righ 
raqi 
mat 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  filme  au  taux  de  reduction  indique  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


26X 


SOX 


12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


TSI^ 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 


L'exemplaire  film^  fut  reproduit  grdce  A  la 
gAn^rositd  de: 


University  of  Victoria 
McPherson  Library 

The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


University  of  Victoria 
McPherson  Library 

Les  images  suivantes  ont  6x6  reproduites  avec  la 
plus  grand  soin,  compta  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettet^  de  l'exemplaire  filrn^,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  da 
fllmage. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  —^(meaning  "CON- 
TINUED "),  or  the  symbol  y  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimis  sont  filmds  en  commenpant 
par  la  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmte  en  commenpant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  —^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE  ",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN  ". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmis  6  des  taux  de  reduction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  an  un  seul  cliche,  il  est  filmd  d  partir 
de  Tangle  supirieur  gauche,  de  gauche  6  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nicessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mithode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

■«     ^.''h 


*t 


•  '  * 


V  'I 


■  'i 


'■     ^        ' 


*« 


INCENTIVES  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  THE  ANCIENT  PERIOD 
OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY. 


AN    ADDRESS, 


DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 


NEW    YORK    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY, 


AT    ITS    FORTY-SECOND    ANNIVERSARY,  17tII  NOVEMBER,    184(>. 


BY 


HENRY   R.    SCHOOLCRAFT. 


PUBLISHED   AT   THE   REQUEST   OF   THE   SOCIETY. 


NEW  YOEK: 
PRESS    OF    THE    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 


1847, 


UNIVfRSiTY  OF  ViCTORIA 
Victsrla,  B.  C. 


NEW  YORK : 

WILLIAM      VAN      NORDEN,      PRINTER, 
WO.     39     WILLIAM     STREET. 


.If 


NEV/  YORK  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 


At  a  special  meeting  of  the  New  York  Historical  Socieiy,  November  17lli,  1846, 
being  the  Forty-Second  Anniversary  of  the  Society,  Hon.  LtxnER  Bradish 
in  the  Chair,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Philip  Hone,  it  was  unanimously 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Society  are  due  to  Mr.  Henry  R.  School- 
CRAiT.for  his  k'iirned  and  interesting  Address,  delivered  this  evening,  and  that  a 
copy  he  respectfully  requested  to  he  deposited  in  the  archives  of  the  Society,  and 
published. 

Extract  from  the  Minutes. 


ANDREW  WARNER, 

Recording  Secretary. 


i 


AN  ADDRESS. 


To  narrow  the  boundaries  of  historical  mystery,  which 
obscures  the  early  period  of  the  American  continent,  is 
believed  to  be  an  objeijt  of  noble  attainment.  Can  it  be 
asserted,  on  the  ground  of  accurate  inquiry,  that  man  had 
not  set  his  feet  upon  this  continent,  and  fabricated  objects 
of  art,  long  anterior  to  the  utmost  periods  of  the  monarchies 
of  ancient  Mexico  and  Peru  ?  Were  there  not  elements  of 
civilization  prior  to  the  landing  of  Coxcox,  or  the  promul- 
gation of  the  gorgeous  fiction  of  Manco  Capac  1  What 
chain  of  connection  existed  between  the  types  of  pseudo- 
civilization  found  respectively  at  Cuzco,  west  of  the  Andes, 
and  in  the  valley  of  Anahuac  ?  Did  this  chain  ever  link  in 
its  causes  the  pyramids  of  Mexico  with  the  mounds  of  the 
Mississippi  valley  ?  It  is  not  proposed  to  en^  ■  into  the  de- 
tails of  this  discussion.  Such  an  inquiry  woulu  i  ;i  transcend 
the  limits  before  me.  It  is  rather  designed  to  show  the  amjili- 
tude  of  the  field  as  a  subject  of  historical  inquiry,  than  to 
gather  its  fruits.  It  will  entirely  compass  the  object  I  have 
in  view,  if  the  suggestions  1  am  to  make  shall  have  the  ten- 
dency, in  any  degree,  to  draw  attention  to  the  topic,  and  to 
denote  the  strong  incentives  which  exist,  at  the  present 
time,  to  study  this  ancient  period  of  American  history. 
This  is  the  object  contemplated. 

Nations,  in  their  separation  from  their  original  stocks, 
and  dispersion  over  the  globe,  are  yet  held  together  by  the 
leading  traits,  physical  and  intellectual,  which  had  charac- 
1* 


G 


INCENTIVES    TO    Till;    STI.'DV    OF 


tcri/(Ml  l\wm  as  trroii|)s.  And  in  spreading?  abroad,  lliey 
art!  louiul  to  hav<'  li'l't  hcliiiul  tlu-ni  a  iroldcn  clue,  wliicli  we 
n'coy:iiizr  in  i)hysiolo<,'y,  iant^iuij^'cs,  arts,  monuments,  and 
m«'ntal  lial)itiules.  These  traits  are  so  intimately  interwov- 
vn  in  tlie  woof  of  the  mind,  and  so  firmly  interhiced  in  the 
struct  lire  find  tendencies  to  action  of  the  whoh:  ory:aniza- 
lion  of  tiie  man,  that  they  can  be  <h'tected  and  generalized 
after  long  eras  of  separotion,  and  the  most  severe  mutations 
of  history.  Such  is  the  judgment,  at  least,  of  modern  re- 
search. Ethnoh)iiy  bases  its  claims  to  confidence  in  the 
recognilion  of  the  dispersed  family  of  man,  in  these  proofs. 
And  when  they  have  been  eliminated  from  the  dust  of  an- 
ti(iuity,  they  are  oll'i-red  as  contributions  to  the  body  of  well 
considered  facts  and  inferences,  which  are  to  compose  the 
thread  of  antique  history  and  critical  intjuiry. 

And  what,  it  may  be  inquired,  are  the  evidences  the 
study  produces,  wh(Mi  these  means  of  scrutiny  come  to  be 
applied  to  the  existing  red  race  of  this  continent  ?  or  to 
their  predecessors  in  its  occupancy  ?  Do  their  languages 
tell  the  story  of  their  ancient  afUnities  with  Asia,  Africa,  or 
Europe?  Do  we  see,  in  their  monuments  and  remains  of 
art,  increments  of  a  pre-existing  state  of  advance,  or  refine- 
ment, in  the  human  family,  in  other  parts  of  the  globe  ? 
It  is  confessed,  that  in  order  to  answer  these  encjuiries,  we 
must  first  scrutinize  the  several  epochs  of  the  nations  with 
whom  we  are  to  com])are  them,  and  the  changes  which 
they  themselves  have  undergone.  Without  erecting  these 
several  standards  of  comparison,  no  certainty  can  attend 
the  labor.  All  nations  and  tribes  upon  the  face  of  the  globe, 
whom  we  can  make  si)onsors  for  the  American  tribes,  are 
thus  constituted  the  field  of  study,  and  we  have  opened  to 
our  investigations  a  theme  at  once  noble  and  sublime.  Phi- 
losophy has  no  higher  s])ecies  of  imiuiry,  beneath  bifinitude, 
than  that  which  establishes  the  original  afiinities  of  man 
to  man. 

We  perceive,  in  casting  our  minds  back  on  the  track  of 
nations  from  a\  hom  we  are  ourselves  sprung,  a  strong  and 
clear  chain  of  philological  testimony,  running  through  the 


ANCIKNT    AMERICAN    UlSTORY. 


various  nations  of  ili<;  {jroat  Thiudic*  type,  until  it  torrili- 
iiatcs  in  the  utmost  regions  of  tlu;  nortli.  This  chain  of 
adiiiation,  though  it  had  a  totally  diverse  element  in  the 
Celtie,  to  bcfiin  with,  yet  absorbed  that  element,  without  in 
llie  least  destroying;  tlie  connection.  It  runs  clearly  from 
the  An},'Io  Saxon  to  the  Frisic,  or  northern  Dutch,  and  the 
Germanic,  in  all  its  recon(lit(?  j)lias(>s,  with  the  ancient 
Gothic,  and  its  coj^nates,  taking  in  very  wide  accessions 
from  the  Latin,  the  Gallic,  and  other  languages  of  south- 
ern Europe ;  and  it  may  be  traced  back,  historically, 
till  it  quite  penetrates  through  these  elementary  masses  of 
change,  and  revenls  itself  in  the  Icelandic.  Two  thousand 
five  hundred  years,  assuming  no  longer  period,  have  not 
obliterated  these  aliiuities  of  language.  Even  at  this  day, 
the  Anglo  Saxon  numerals,  pronouns,  most  of  the  terms  in 
chronology,  together  with  a  large  nund)er  oi'  its  adverbs, 
are  well  pn^served  in  the  Icelandic.  And  had  we  no  histo- 
ry to  trace  our  national  origin,  the  body  of  philological 
testimony,  which  can  be  appealed  to,  would  be  conclusive 
of  the  general  question. 

Does  Asi<a  ofTer  similar  proofs  of  the  original  identity,  or 
parentage  of  its  languages  with  America?  This  cannot 
be  positively  asserted.  But  while  there  is  but  little  analo- 
gy in  the  sounds  of  the  lexicography,  so  far  as  known,  it  is 
in  this  quarter  of  the  globe,  that  we  perceive  resemblances 
in  some  words  of  the  Shemitic  grouj)  of  languages,  ])ositive 
coincidences  in  the  features  ol'  its  syntax,  and  in  its  un- 
wieldy perscnril  and  polysyllabicfil  and  aggregated  forms; 
and  the  inquiry  is  one,  vvhicli  may  be  expected  to  produce 
auspicious  results.  On  the  assumption  of  their  Asiatic 
origin,  therefore,  it  is  evident  that  the  Indi.an  tribes  are  of 
far  greater  anti(iuity  than  the  Anglo  Saxon.  JNot  only  so, 
but  they  appear  on  philological  proofs  to  l)e  older,  in  their 
national  phasis,  if  we  excej)t,  perhaps,  the  Chinese,  than 
the  present  inhabitants  of  the  north-eastern  coasts  of  Asia, 
and  the  East  India  Islands.     But  we  are  not  to  pursue  this 


*  Forster. 


6 


INCKNTIVEM    To   THE    MTI.'DY    t)I 


t(t|)ic.  The  ^ciHTJil  Ihcts  arc  merely  thrown  out,  to  dt-uoto 
the  lar  reiichitij^  uiul  iiiipcrious  rr(|uin'incrits  of  pliilology. 
When  Wf  rxJiniiiie  the  AiTicrican  coiitiiicnt,  with  u  vit'W 
to  its  luioirnt  occupancy,  we  perceive  its  surface  scarified 
with  moats  and  wails — its  alluvial  level  plains  atid  vallies 
1)(  jirini,'  mounds,  teocalli  and  pyramids.  Its  hi^h  interior 
altitudes,  in  the  tropical  regions,  are  covered  with  the  luins 
oi' temples  and  cities — and  even  in  the  temperate  latitudes 
ol"  the  north,  its  harrows  and  mounds  are  now  lound  to 
yield  objects  of  excjuisite  sculpture,  and  many  of  its  forests, 
beyond  the  Alley;huiiies,  exhibit  the  refj;ularity  of  anticjuc 
garden  l)eds  and  furrows,"  amid  the  heaviest  lorcnt  trees. 
Objects  of  art  and  implements  of  war,  and  even  of  science, 
are  turned  up  by  the  plough.  'I'hese  arc  silent  witnesses. 
With  the  single  exception  of  the  inscription  stone,  found  in 
the  great  tumulus  of  CJrave  Cre<U,  in  Virginia,  in  the  year 
IN^H,-)-  there  is  no  monument  of  art  on  the  continent,  yet 
discovered,  which  discloses  an  alj)habet,  and  thus  promises 
to  address  posterity  in  an  articulate  voice.  We  must  argue 
chielly  from  the  character  of  the  anticpie  works  of  art. 

But  although  the  apparent  hieroglyphics  of  Yucatan  and 
Central  America  have  not  been  read,  nor  a  history  of  much 
inchlent,  or  a  remote  antifjuity,  deduced  from  the  pictorial 
scrolls  of  Mexico,  it  is  im])ossible  not  to  assign  to  the  era  of 
American  antiquities,  a  degree  of  arts,  science,  agriculture 
and  general  civilization,  to  which  the  highest  existing  no- 
madic or  hunter  tribes  had  no  })retence.  It  is  a  period  of 
obscuiity,  of  which  imiuirers  might  perhaps  say,  that  the 
darkness  itself  is  made  to  speak.  Jt  tells  of  the  displace- 
ment of  light.  All  indeed  beyond  the  era  of  Colundnis,  is 
shrouded  in  historical  gloom.  We  are  thus  confined  within 
the  short  cycle  of  some  three  hundred  and  fifty  y«>ais.  A 
little  less  than  twelvi;  generations  of  men.  Beyond  this 
period,  we  have  an  ante-historical  ])eriod,  wliich  is  filled, 
almost  exclusively,  with  European  claimants  of  j)rit)r  di.s- 


*  jAlSt^.  of  the  Am.   \'A\m.  Society.     A'idu  Catalogue,  Vol,  I. 
+  Traiw.  Am.  Etlm.  hsocifiy.     Vol.  I. 


ANCIENT    AMKRICAN    lltSTORY. 


0 


covpry.  Wo  will  name  ihcm  in  tlicir  onltr.  Tht'y  arc  the 
ScniidiuHviaiis,  Ui«'  ('iiiibri  utid  trilx's  ol'  Ci'ltic  ty[H',  und 
the  Venetians.  Still  prior,  is  tlie  Asiatic  claim  of  a  preda- 
tory nation,  who,  in  the  days  of  the  Exodus,  lived  in  caves 
and  dens  of  the  earth,  under  the  name  of  Uorites,*  and  who 
culminated  at  a  later  era,  under  the  far-iained  e|)itliel  of 
IMifiMiicians — a  people  whose  early  nautical  skill  has,  abso- 
lutely, no  cotemporary. 

►Scandinavian  anti(juities  have  recently  assumed  the 
hiu;hest  interest,  which  the  press  and  the  pencil  can  bestow. 
Danish  art  and  n^search  have  achieved  hiy;h  honors  in  disin- 
terrinf;  facts  from  the  dust  of  Ibrf^otten  ay;es.  And  we  may 
look  to  the  illustrated  publications,  which  have  been  put  forth 
at  Copenhagen,  under  royal  auspices,  as  an  example  of  what 
literary  costume  and  literary  dilii,n'nce,  may  do  to  revive  niid 
re-construct  the  antiquarian  periods  of  the  world's  history. 
The  publication  of  the  ancient  northern  Saj^as,  and  the 
ballads  of  the  Scandinavian  Skalds,  has  revealed  sullicient 
of  the  history  of  the  early  and  bold  adventures,  in  the 
tenth,  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  to  show  that  these 
hardy  adventurers  not  only  searched  the  shores  of  Iceland 
and  Greenland,  and  founded  settlemfMits  and  built  churches 
there  ;  but  pushed  their  voyages  west  to  the  rocky  shores 
of  Heluiland,  the  woody  coasts  of  Markland,  and  th(>  vine- 
yielding  coasts  of  ancient  A'inland.  Th(^se  three  names 
geography  has  exchanged  in  our  days,  for  JN'cnvfoundland, 
Nova  Scotia  and  Massachusetts.  Perhaps  some  other  por- 
tions of  New  England  may  be  embraced  by  the  ancient 
name  of  Vinland, 

The  ancient  songs  and  legends  of  a  people  may  he  ap- 
pealed to,  as  these  Sagas  and  ballads  have  been,  for  historical 
prooi',  as  it  is  known  that  the  early  nations  celebrated  their 
heroic  exploits,  in  this  manner.  Authors  tell  us  that  Homer 
but  recited  the  traditions  of  his  countrymen.  The  nautical 
and  geographical    proofs,  by  which  portions  of  the  North 


*  Forsler. 


Minti 


10 


INCENTIVES    TO   THE    STUDY    OF 


Atlantic  shores  have  been  identified  by  the  bold  spirit  of 
northern  research,  are  certainly  inexact  and  to  some  extent 
hypothetical.  In  extending  the  heretofore  admitted  points 
of  discovery  and  temporary  settlement,  south  to  Massachu- 
setts and  Rhode  Island,  they  carry  with  them  sufficient 
general  plausibility,  as  being  of  an  early  and  adventurous* 
age,  to  secure  assent.  And  they  only  cease  to  inspire  a 
high  degree  of  historical  respect,  at  the  particular  points 
where  the  identification  becomes  extreme,  where  the  pen 
and  pencil  have  to  some  extent  distorted  objects,  and  where 
localities  and  monuments  are  insisted  on,  which  we  are  by 
no  means  sure  ever  had  any  connection  with  the  acts  of  the 
early  Scandinavian  adventurers,  and  sea  kings.  This 
period  of  the  ante-Columbian  era,  is  one  of  deep  interest  in 
American  history,  and  invites  a  careful  and  candid  scrutinj^ 
with  a  sole  eye  to  historical  truth. 

We  have  also  a  Celtic  period,  falling  within  the  same 
general  era  of  the  Scandinavian,  which,  at  least,  deserves 
to  be  examined,  if  it  be  only  to  cl(!ar  away  the  rubbish  that 
encumbers  the  threshold  of  the  ancient  period  of  our  Indian 
history.  This  claim  to  discovery,  rests  chiefly  upon  a  pas- 
sage in  old  British  history,  which  represents  two  voyages 
of  a  Welsh  Prince,  who  in  the  twelfth  century,  sailed  west 
from  the  coasts  of  Britain,  and  is  thought  by  some  writers, 
to  have  reached  this  continent.  The  discovery  of  Columbus 
was  of  such  an  astounding  character  and  reflected  so 
eminent  a  degree  of  honor,  both  on  him  and  the  Court 
which  had  employed  this  noble  mariner,  that  it  is  no  wonder 
other  countries  of  maritime  borders,  should  rake  up  the 
arcana  of  their  old  traditions,  to  share  in  the  glory.  If  these 
ancient  traditions  have  left  but  little  worthy  of  the  sober 
pen  of  history,  they  have  imposed  on  us,  as  cultivators  of 
history,  the  literary  obligation  to  examine  the  facts  and 
decide  upon  their  probability.  If  Prince  Madoc,  as  this 
account  asserts,  sailed  a  little  south  of  west,  he  is  likely  to 
have  reached  and  landed  at  the  Azores.  It  is  not  incredible, 
indeed,  that  small  ships,  such  as  the  Britons,  Danes  and 
Northmen  used,  should  have  crossed  the  entire  Atlantic  at 


ANCIENT   AMERICAN    HISTORY. 


11 


spirit  of 
ne  extent 

d  points 

assachu- 

sufficient 

cnturous 

inspire  a 

ar  points 

the  pen 
nd  where 
re  are  by 
cts  of  the 
i.  This 
[iterest  in 
scrutiny, 

the  same 
deserves 
ibish  that 
ur  Indian 
on  a  pas- 
>  voyages 
iled  west 
3  writers, 
>olunibus 
ected   so 
16   Court 
0  wonder 
e  up  the 
If  these 
ihe  sober 
I'ators  of 
lets    and 
,  as  this 
likely  to 
credible, 
lies   and 
lantic  at 


the  era,  between  the  vernal  and  autumnal  equinoxes, 
althoui^h  it  is  not  probable.  It  is  nearly  certain,  however, 
that  should  such  a  feat  have  been  performed  in  the  twelfth 
century,  thr  natives  of  the  American  coasts,  who  were  in- 
imical to  strangers,  would,  in  no  long  period,  have  annihi- 
lated them.  With  a  full  knowledge  of  the  warlike  and 
suspicious  elements  of  Indian  character,  such  a  result  might 
have  been  predicted  in  ordinary  cases.  But  that  these 
tribes,  or  any  one  of  them,  should  have  adopted,  as  is 
contended,  the  language  of  a  small  and  feeble  colony  of 
foreigners,  either  landing  or  stranded  on  the  coast  ;  nay 
more,  so  fully  adopted  it  as  to  be  understood  by  any  coun- 
trymen of  the  Prince,  five  hundred  years  afterw^ards,*  is  a 
proof  ofthe  national  credulity  of  men,  who  are  predetermined 
to  find  the  analogies  Wj^ioh  they  ardently  seek. 

Italy  has  likewise  a  claim  to  the  discovery  of  this  conti- 
nent, prior  to  the  voyages  of  Columbus.  This  claim  is 
made  by  an  ancient  family  of  the  highest  rank  in  the  city 
ot  Venice — once  the  mistress  of  the  commerce  of  the  world. 
The  voyages  of  the  two  Zenos,  over  the  northern  seas,  in 
the  14th  century,  extending  to  Greenland, appear  to  be  well 
attested  by  the  archives  of  that  ancient  city.  The  episode 
of  Estotiland,  which  is  apparently  used  as  a  synonyme  for 
A'^inland,  has  been  generally  deemed  apocryphal,  or  of  a 
date  posterior  to  the  other  incidents  described.  To  examine 
and  set  in  order  both  the  true  and  the  intercalated  parts  of 
these  curious  ancient  voyages,  would  involve  no  little  de- 
gree of  research,  but  would  prove,  if  well  executed,  a  useful 
and  acceptable  service  to  historical  letters. 

There  is  another  period — we  allude  to  the  Hoiitic  cle- 
ment— in  the  obscurity  of  the  early  history  of  the  continent, 
which  may  be  here  mentioned,  but  from  the  diversity  of  the 
sub-elements  w^hich  enter  into  it,  some  hesitancy  exists  in 
giving  it  a  name.  In  order  to  secure  the  purposes  of  gene- 
ralization, and  include  every  element  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed, it  may  be  called,  provisionally,  the  jMeditkrranean 

•  Vkle  StoJi.laii'3  Louisiana. 


12 


INCENTIVES  TO   THE    STUDY    OP 


PRRroD.  It  is  the  earliest  and  most  obscure  of  the  whole, 
relying,  as  it  does,  almost  exclusively  upon  passages  of  the 
imaginative  literature  of  Greece.  Yet  it  is  a  subject  emi- 
nently worthy  of  the  ])en  of  original  investigation.  It 
includes  the  consideration  of  the  early  maritime  power 
of  the  Phcrnicians,  the  Etruscans,  the  Carthagenians, 
and  other  celebrated  nations  and  cities  who,  long  before 
the  Christian  era,  drew  the  attention  and  governed 
the  destinies  of  the  world.  It  was  in  this  quarter  of 
the  globe,  forming,  as  it  does,  the  cementing  point  be- 
tween Europe  and  Asia,  that  an  alphabet  arose  at  a  very 
early  day,  and  prior  to  that  of  Greece  or  Rome,  which 
consisted  almost  exclusively  of  straight  or  angular  marks. 
From  its  use  it  has  sometimes  been  called  the  Rock  Alpha- 
bet. It  has  its  equivalents  in  the  more  full  and  exact  He- 
brew and  Greek  characters,  so  far  as  the  old  alphabet  ex- 
tended. It  had,  as  these  changes  progressed  and  the  family 
of  man  spread,  the  various  names  of  Phfjenician,  Ostic,  Etrus- 
can, Punic,  ancient  Greek  and  Gallic,  Celtiberic,  Runic,  Dru- 
id ical  and  others.  As  a  system  of  notation,  it  appears  to 
occu])yan  epoch  between  the  hieroglyphic  system  of  Egypt 
and  the  Greek  alphabet.  But  whatever  may  be  said  of  its 
origin.  afTinities,  changes,  or  character,  it  is  clear  that  this 
simj)le  alphnbet  spread  westward  among  the  barbaric  na- 
tions of  Europe,  changing,  in  some  measure,  in  its  forms  of 
notation  and  the  articulate  sounds  it  represented,  until  it 
reached  the  utmost  limits  of  its  western  and  northern  coasts 
and  islands.  Here  it  served  as  the  means  of  recording 
human  utterance,  until  it  Mas  supplanted  and  obliterated 
by  the  civilization  of  Rome  and  the  Roman  alphabet.  To 
deeypher  the  ancient  inscriptions  in  this  simple  character, 
found  upon  rocks  and  monuments,  is  an  object,  at  this  day, 
of  learned  research  ;  and  its  importance  may  be  judged  of 
by  observing,  that,  whenevcf  successlully  effected,  it  is  a 
literal  restoration,  to  the  present  age,  of  the  lost  sounds  of 
those  parts  of  th(^  ancient  world,  I  will  no  farther  allude  to 
this  period,  so  important  in  its  means  of  reseai'ch,  than  to 
add,  that  the  inscription,  found   in  1838,  on  o])ening  the 


I 


ANCIENT    AMERICAN    HISTORY. 


13 


he  whole, 
ges  of  the 
bject  cmi- 
ation.  It 
ne  power 
lagenians, 
ng  before 
governed 
[uarter  of 
point  be- 
at a  very 
ne,  which 
ar  marks, 
ck  Alpha- 
exact  He- 
)habet  ex- 
the  family 
>tic,Etrus- 
unic,  Dru- 
ippears  to 
1  of  Egypt 
s-aid  of  its 
r  that  this 
rbaric  na- 
;s  forms  of 
ed,  until  it 
icrn  coasts 
recording 
obliterated 
labet.  To 
character, 
it  this  day, 
» judged  of 
ed,  it  is  a 
t  sounds  of 
r  allude  to 
ch,  than  to 
)ening  the 


I 
i 


gigantic  pile  of  earth,  or  tumulus,  heretofore  referred  to,  on 
the  alluvial  plains  of  Grave  Creek  in  Western  Virginia, 
was  in  one  of  the  types  of  this  ancient  character.  This 
type  of  the  alphabet  may  be  called  aonic* — a  term  derived 
from  the  aboriginal  vocabulary.  I  visited  the  locality  in 
1843 — carefully  examined  the  facts,  and  having  satisfied 
myself  of  the  authenticity  of  the  discovery,  took  duplicate 
copies  of  the  inscription  in  wax,  and  transmitted  them  to 
Europe.  The  inscription  consists  of  twenty-three  letters, 
together  with  a  pictorial  device,  apparently  a  man's  head 
on  a  pike.  It  is  made  on  a  small  hard  stone,  of  an  oval 
shape,  and  was  found  in  a  vault  along  with  human  bones, 
sea  shells,  and  various  ornaments  of  a  rude  age.  Professor 
Charles  Rafn,  of  Copenhagen,  deems  the  character  Celti- 
beric.  I  have  recently  received  a  memoir  from  M.  Jomard, 
at  Paris,  (the  sole  survivor  of  Bonaparte's'  scientific  corps 
in  Egypt,)  who  considers  it  as  of  Lybian  origin,  and  com- 
pares it  with  an  inscription  found  on  the  African  shores  of 
the  Mediterranean  at  Dugga.  It  relieves,  to  some  extent, 
the  discrepancy  existing  between  these  two  learned  men  to 
remark  that  the  Dugga  inscription  consists  of  two  parts, 
one  of  which  is  pronounced  Celtiberic  by  Hamaker,  and 
that  the  generic  character  of  the  strokes  in  this  alphabet  are 
preserved  to  some  extent  even  in  the  true  Libyan.  Since 
the  receipt  of  Mr.  italn's  paper,  the  number  of  characters 
on  the  Grave  Creek  stone  which  are  identical  with  the  Cel- 
tiberic, as  published  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Transactions 
of  the  American  Ethnological  Society,  has  been  shown  to 
be  fifteen,  leaving  but  eight  to  be  accounted  for.  By  com- 
parison, ten  of  our  aomc  characters  of  Grave  Creek  corres- 
pond with  the  Phd'uieian  ;  four  with  the  ancient  Greek  ; 
four  with  the  Etruscan  ;  six  with  the  ancient  Gallic  ;  seven 
with  the  old  Erse  ;  five  with  the  Runic  proper,  and  thirteen 
with  the  Druidical,  or  old  British,  as  it  existed  before  the 
invasion  of  Julius  Ca.'sar.  The  latter  are,  however,  almost 
identical,  so  far  as  the  comparison  goes,  with  the  Celtiberic. 

•  Vide  Notes  on  the  Iroquois, 


14 


INCENTIVES    TO    THE   STUDY    Or 


Six  of  the  characters,  which  are  several  times  repeated, 
however,  exist  in  the  right  hand  portion  of  the  Lybian  in- 
scription at  Dugga,  but  the  introduction,  in  other  parts  of 
the  monumental  text,  ol"  the  Arabic  element  of  notation  by 
curved  lines,  tends  to  lessen  the  pro1)ability  of  the  Lybian 
origin  of  our  western  inscription,  whih;  it  adds  additional 
force  to  the  suggestions  of  Mr.  Rafn.  It  is  also  to  be  no- 
ticed that  M.  Jomard  employed  an  inaccurate  copy  of  the 
inscription  which  was  furnished  him  some  years  ago  by  Mr, 
Vail. 

This  comprehends  the  European  branch  of  the  obscure 
period  of  our  early  continental  history,  and  includes  all  the 
nations  known  to  have  put  in  claims  to  share,  or  to  antici- 
pate, the  glory  of  the  discovery  of  the  continent  by  Columbus. 

The  discovery  of  the  continent,  was,  indeed,  a  geographi- 
cal wonder.  It  w^as  made  contrary  to  the  predictions  of  the 
times.  Such  a  discovery  was  not  only  opposed  by  popular 
opinion ;  but  Columbus  himself  expected  no  such  thing.  He 
sought  only  a  new  passage  to  the  East  Indies.  He  insis- 
ted, with  a  noble  constancy,  that  he  should  find  land  in  sail- 
ing west.  But  he  did  not  expect  to  find,  as  if  by  the  power 
of  necromancy,  that  a  vast  continent  should  rise  up  before 
his  eyes.  And  it  is  altogether  questionable,  whether  the  great 
navigator  did  not  die  without  a  true  knowledge  of  this  fact. 
It  will  be  recollected  that  it  w  s  not  until  six  years  after 
his  death,  which  happened  in  150G,  that  Balboa  first  discover- 
ed the  Pacific  from  the  heights  of  Panama,  and  thus  truly 
revealed  the  position  of  the  Continent. 

Sages  and  Philosophers  do  not  admire  results  which 
have  fallen  out  contrary  to  their  expressed  views  ;  but,  in 
this  case,  the  discovery  proved  so  astounding  that  all  Europe 
joined  in  extolling,  what  all  Europe  had  a  little  before,  dis- 
believed. A  continent  stretching  little  under  10,000  miles, 
from  south  to  north,  with  a  maximum  breath  of  2000  miles, 
between  sea  and  sea,  rivers,  such  as  the  La  Plata  and  the 
Amazon — mountains  like  that  of  the  Andes,  whose  highest 
peak  rises  20,280  feet  above  the  sea — Volcanoes,  which  cast 
their  fires  over  plains  of  interminable  extent — fropical  fruits 


ANCIENT    AMERICAN    HISTORY. 


15 


'I 

* 


i 


of  evory  kind — mines  of  gold  and  silver  the  richest  the 
world  had  ever  known — these,  were  some  of  the  features 
that  America  brought  to  light,  while  it  added  one-third  to 
the  known  area,  and  more  than  one-third  to  the  commercial 
resources  of  the  world. 

But  while  men  gazed  at  its  lofty  mountains,  and  geologi- 
cal magnifioenc<',  the  ancient  race  of  men,  who  were  found 
here,  constituted  by  far  the  most  curious  and  thought-in- 
spiring problem.  Volcanoes  and  vast  plains  and  mountains 
were  elements  in  the  geography  of  the  old  world,  and  their 
occurrence  here,  soon  assimilated  their  discovery  to  other 
features  of  the  kind.  But  the  red  man  continued  to  furnish 
a  theme  for  speculation  and  inquiry,  which  time  has  not 
satisfied.  Columbus,  supposing  himself  to  have  found,  what 
he  had  sailed  for,  and  judging  from  physical  characteristics 
alone,  called  them  Indians.  Usage  has  perpetuated  the 
term.  But  if,  by  the  term,  it  is  designed  to  consider  them 
as  of  that  part  of  India,  which  is  filled  with  the  Hindoo 
race,  there  is  but  little  resemblance  beyond  mere  physical 
traits.  Of  the  leading  idea  of  the  multiform  incarnations 
of  the  terrible,  and  degraded  Hindoo  deities — of  the  burning 
of  widows  at  the  funereal  pile — of  infanticide — of  the  gross 
idolatry  rendered  to  images,  like  those  of  Vishnoo  and  Jug- 
gernaut, there  is  nothing.  The  degraded  forms  of  supersti- 
tion and  human  vice  which  are  practised  on  the  Ganges  and 
the  Burrampooter,  are  unknown  on  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Missouri.  Nor  have  we  found,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  a  sin- 
gle word  in  the  American  languages,  which  exists  in  the 
Hindostanee. 

The  pliilosophers  and  ecclesiastics  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, who  discussed  the  subject  of  the  origin  of  the  Amer- 
ican Tribes,  have  left  scarcely  a  portion  of  the  globe  un- 
touched by  their  researches,  or  from  which,  they  have  not 
att(!mpted.  by  some  analogies,  to  deduce  them.  Generali- 
zation,  as  soon  as  Columbus  returned  from  his  first  voyage, 
took  an  unlimited  latitude  ;  and  theories  were  advanced 
with  a  degree  of  confidence,  which  was,  in  some  measure, 
proportioned  to  the  remoteness  of  the  position  of  the  writers. 


16 


INCENTIVES    TO    THE   STUDY    OF 


from  both  the  stock  of  people  Ibund,  and  those  ol'  nations 
with  whom  they  were  sought  to  be  compared.  Scholars 
ransacked  the  archives  of  European  arclueology.  They 
found  some  allusions  in  the  Greek  drama,  to  ancient  discov- 
eries beyond  th(^  pillars  of  Hercules.  They  speculated  on 
the  story  of  Atlantis,  and  the  Fortunate  Islands.  They 
drew  parallels  between  the  hunter  and  corn  j)lanting  tribes 
of  America,  and  the  lost  ten  tribes  of  Israel,  who  were  gra- 
ziers. They  located  ancient  Ophir,  where  of  all  places  it 
had  certainly  never  been,  namely,  in  America.  They  were 
satisfied  with  general  resemblances  in  manners  and  customs, 
which  mark  uncivilized  nations,  in  distant  parts  of  the  world, 
who  assimilate,  in  some  traits,  from  mere  parity  of  circum- 
stances, but  between  whom  there  are  in  reality,  no  direct 
affinities  of  blood  and  lineage.  And  they  left  the  question, 
to  all  practical  and  satisfactory  ends,  precisely  where  they 
found  it.  It  was  still  to  be  answered,  who  ahe  the  Indians? 
The  present  age  is,  in  many  respects,  better  prepared  to 
undertake  the  examination  of  the  question.  The  time  which 
has  passed  away  since  Columbus  dropped  anchor  at  the  is- 
land of  Guanahani,  has  rendered  distant  nations  on  the 
globe  lar  better  acquainted  with  each  other.  This  has,  in- 
deed, been  the  most  remarkable  period  for  its  influence  on 
all  the  true  elements  of  civilization,  which  the  world  has 
ever  known.  The  advance  of  general  knowledge,  the  com- 
ity of  national  intercouse,  and  the  policy  and  friendship  of 
nations,  has  certainly  never  before  reached  its  present  state. 
China  is  no  longer  a  sealed  nation.  British  arms  have  car- 
ried the  influence  of  arts  and  letters,  through  Hindostan> 
Abyssinia,  Persia,  and  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates,  have 
been  visited  and  explored.  Tlie  deserts  of  the  Holy  Land 
have  been  trod  by  learned  men  of  Europe  and  America. 
The  mouth  of  the  Niger  and  the  sources  of  the  Nile,  are 
revealed.  Even  Arabia,  the  land  where  Abraham  and  his 
descendants  once  trod,  has  sent  an  embassy  of  peace,  to  a 
government  18,000  miles  distant,  which  has  not  had  a  na- 
tional existence  over  seventy  years.  Not  only  the  rulers  of 
Arabia  and  America  have  been  thus  brought  into  the  bonds 


ANCIENT    AMERICAN    HISTORY. 


17 


of  intercourse  ;  but  the  age  has  exchanged  the  arts,  the 
science  and  flic  phih)sophy  of  the  utmost  \y,\rtH  of  the  earth. 
8cientilic  (liscov(>ry  has  reached  its  highest  acme.  The 
sites  of  many  ancient  and  long  unknown,  though  not  for- 
gotten cities,  are  recovered.  Monuments  and  ruinii  have 
been  disinterred  in  the  ancient  seats  of  human  power, 
in  tlie  oriental  world,  and  inscriptions  deciphered,  which 
give  vitality  to  ancient  liistory.  Ethnology  has  arisen  to 
hold  up  the  light  of  her  resplendent  lamp,  amid  these  ruins, 
to  guide  the  footsteps  of  letters,  science  and  ])iety. 

To  thes(>  evidences  of  the  in(iuisitive  energy  of  the  age, 
it  has  added  new  and  important  means  of  study  and  inves- 
tigation. The  ])rinci])les  of  interpretation  which  originated 
in  the  study  of  Egyptian  monuments,  have  guided  incpiiries 
in  other  quarters  of  the  globe,  and  the  discovery  of  a  key  to 
the  hieroglyphics  of  the  Nile  has  thus  reflected  light  on  the 
progress  oi'  monumental  researches  thi'oughout  the  world. 
The  science  of  philology,  so  im])ortant  in  considering  the 
aflinities  of  nations,  has  been  almost  wholly  created  within 
fifty  years.  Franklin  lived  and  died  without  a  knowledge 
of  it.  Astronomy  has  been  cmi)loyed  to  some  extent  to  de- 
tect the  chronology  of  architectural  ruins,  and  even  the  an- 
tique history  of  America  has  been  illustrated  by  the  record 
of  an  eclipse  among  the  ancient  Mexican  picture-writings.* 
Geology,  in  her  labors  to  determine  the  character  of  the 
exhumed  bones  and  shells  of  extinct  classes  of  the  animal 
creation  of  former  eras,  has  not  failed  to  impart  the  most 
important  knowledge  of  the  })hysical  history  of  the  planet 
we  occupy.  Electricity  and  magnetism  have  also  enlarged 
their  boundaries.  Chemistry  is  in  the  process  of  fulfilling 
the  highest  expectations.  All  these  sources  of  knowledge 
have  been  poured  into  the  lap  of  geography  and  ethnogra- 
phy, and  given  us  a  far  better  and  truer  knowledge  of  the 
character,  resources,  and  position  of  the  nations  of  the 
world.  And  after  making  every  allowance  for  the  liter. try 
complacency  of  the  age,  we  are  yet  unable  to  point  to  a 


•  Vide  Gallatin's  paper — Trans.  Am.  Eth.  Society,  vol.  I. 
2* 


i 


18 


INCENTIVES    TO   THE   STUDY  OF 


prior  epoch  of  the  world  wlien  man  had  so  fully  recovered 
his  position  in  the  scale  of  civilization,  and  in  the  knowledge 
of  the  various  phenomena  in  science,  letters  and  arts,  on 
w  ich  his  true  advance  depends. 

With  these  evidences  of  intellectual  progress  and  the  in- 
creased i)ower  of  modern  im^uiry,  there  are  redoubled  incen- 
tives to  investigate  the  obscure  period  of  American  history. 
It  has  been  said,  prematurely,  in  the  arrogance  of  European 
criticism,  that  America  has  "  no  fallen  columns  "  to  exa- 
mine— "  no  inscriptions  to  decypher."  We  answer  the  as- 
sertion by  pointing  to  the  enigmatical  walls  of  Palenque 
and  Chi  Chen  Itza,  and  to  the  polished  ruins  of  Cuzco,  and 
the  valley  of  Anahuac.  Researches  in  this  field  of  observa- 
tion have  just  commenced.  Bigotry  and  lust  of  conquest, 
led  the  early  Spanish  adventurers  to  sweep  as  with  the  be- 
som of  destruction  every  object  and  monument  of  art  which 
stood  in  their  way.  Cortez  razed  the  walls  of  ancient 
Mexico  to  the  ground  as  he  entered  it,  and  his  zealous  fol- 
lowers committed  to  the  flames  whatever  was  light  and 
combustible.  This  spirit  marked  the  entire  conquest  which 
was  carried  on  under  the  triple  mania  of  religious  bigotry, 
the  lust  of  gold,  and  the  unchastened  s})irit  of  national  rob- 
bery. We  have  to  glean  for  facts  among  that  which  is  left. 
It  is  still  an  interesting  field,  but  it  has  been  hedged  up  since 
the  conquest,  by  the  jealous  spirit  and  narrow  policy  of  by 
far  the  most  gloomy  and  non-j)rogressive  nation  of  Europe, 
Spanish  chivalry  has  been  extolled  to  the  skies,  but  it  has 
ever  been  the  chivalry  of  the  dark  ages.  She  has  fought 
for  the  antiquity  of  opinion,  while  she  has  guarded  the  ave- 
nue to  facts.  There  are  immense  districts  of  Central  and 
South  America,  which  are  yet  a  perfect  terra  incognita  to 
the  traveller  and  the  antiquarian.' 

Entire  tribes  and  nations  in  the  gloomy  ranges  of  the  An- 
des and  the  Cordilleras  have  never  submitted  to  the  Spanish 
yoke,  and  still  enjoy  their  original  customs  and  institutions. 
So  far  as  modern  ex])lorations  have  been  made,  the  results 
are,  in  a  high  di'gree,  auspicious.  Mr.  Stephens  has  opened 
vistas  in  our  antiquarian  history  by  his  two  exploratory 


I 

I 

i 


'M 


Ancient  American  iiiptory. 


10 


overed 
wlcdf^e 
irts,  on 

the  in- 
incen- 

listory. 

ropt-an 

to  t'xa- 

tlie  as- 
alcnque 
zco,  and 
)bserva- 
onquest, 
I  the  be- 
rt  which 

ancient 
lIous  Ibl- 
ight  and 
st  which 
i  bigotry, 
)nal  rob- 
ch  is  left. 
'.  up  since 
icy  of  by 

Europe. 
)ut  it  has 
IS  fought 
the  ave- 
itral  and 
ognita  to 

f  the  An- 

l;  Spanish 
;tilutions. 
lie  results 
IS  opened 
pi oratory 


journies,  which  tend  to  show  how  little  we  yet  know  of  the 
ancient  epochs  of  the  country,  and  the  field  of  intjuiry  is  al)out 
to  be  occupied  at  various  points  under  the  highest  advan- 
tages. Some  of  the  (iijures  and  devices  on  the  anticjue  walls 
and  temples  of  equinoctial  America,  appear  to  contain  in- 
formation for  a  future  Young  or  Champollion  to  reveal. 
Time  and  scrutiny  will  do  much  to  lift  the  veil  of  mystery 
from  these  ancient  ruins,  and  to  form  and  regulate  sound 
opinion  upoji  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  that  quarter,  and 
their  state  of  arts.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  evidences 
exist  in  buried  anti(juities  which  will  tend  to  connect  the 
arts  and  religion,  mythology  and  astronomy  of  the  eastern 
and  western  hemispheres — to  unravel  the  difiiculties  in  the 
way  of  comparative  philology,  and  to  reconstruct  and  con- 
nect the  links  in  the  broken  chain  of  national  aifiliation. 

Even  in  our  less  attractive  latitudes  and  longitudes,  a 
more  auspicious  and  healthy  tone  has  been  given  to  the 
spirit  of  investigation.  A  voice  from  one  of  our  western 
mounds  (which  has  been  alluded  to)  promises  to  restore  the 
reading  of  an  inscription  in  one  of  the  earliest  alphabets  of 
the  world.  Sculptures  have  recently  been  disclosed  in  some 
of  the  minor  mounds  of  the  West,  which  are  executed  in  a 
polished  style  of  art,  .ind  strongly  connect  the  Mexican  and 
American  tribes.  The  figures  of  animals  and  birds,  taken 
from  some  barrows  in  the  Scioto  valley,  are  executed  in  a 
manner  quite  equal  to  anything  of  the  kind  found  in  Mexico 
or  Peru. 

Mythological  evidence  is  also  assuming  more  distinctive 
grounds.  An  imitative  mound  of  a  gigantic  serpent  swal- 
lowing an  egg,  has  been  discovered  in  one  of  the  forest 
counties  of  Ohio,  while  I  have  been  engaged  in  j)eiHiing 
these  remarks.  The  discovery  of  this  curious  structure, 
which  is  coiled  tor  the  distance  ot  a  (juarter  of  a  mile  around 
a  hill,  transfers  to  our  soil  a  striking  and  characteristic 
portion  of  oriental  mythology.  Scarcely  a  season  passes, 
indeed,  which  does  not  add,  by  the  extension  of  our  settle- 
ments, or  the  direct  agency  of  exj)loration,  to  the  number  of 
monumental  evidences  of  antique  occupancy. 


30 


INCENTIVES    TO    TIIIO    HTi'DV    Of 


But  were  tlicso,  iiulet'd,  wantinj? — wcn^  thore  no  mouiids 
or  |)yrami(ls  of  si'pulturi;  or  sarrillcc — no  remains  of  art 
— no  inscriptive  te.slirnoiii(!S  to  speak  ol  l)y-}j;()ne  centuries — 
we  have  hel'ore  us  onv,  of  the  most  interesting  of  all  inonu- 
inenfal  proofs  in  the  lost  and  inijrmatical  raee,  \\  lio  y''t  rove 
the  houudless  forests  of  the  West  and  South.  Whether  there 
be  evidences  to  separate  the  eras  and  nations  ot  the  most 
ancient  irdiabitants  from  those  whose  descendants  yet  re- 
main, is  one  of  the  very  jmints  at  issue.  If  the  descendants 
ofth(!  mound  and  temple  builders  yet  exist,  the  traditions  of 
the  era  have  passed  from  them  in  the  process  of  their  deelen- 
sion.  15ut  whoever  the  builders  were,  and  whether  their 
blood  still  Hows  in  tlie  existing  race  or  not,  they  clung,  like 
this  race,  so  firmly  to  their  ancient  mythology  and  religion 
as  to  imj)ress  it  indelibly  on  the  featui'cs  of  their  architecture, 
and  in  almost  every  work  or  labor  which  they  attempted. 

Viewed  in  every  age,  the  existing  tribes  have  exhibited 
such  a  fixity  and  peculiarity  of  character,  as  to  have  ren- 
dered them  at  once  a  paradox  and  a  bye- word.  'J'he  Turk 
has  not  been  more  inflexible;  nor  the  Jew  shown  more 
individuality.  We  have  hardly  begun  systematically  to 
examine  this  subject.  If  the  ancient  builders  were  no- 
madea — mere  hunters  of  the  bear,  the  deer,  and  the  bis(jn,who 
were  loo  happy  in  the  Parthian  attaiimients  of  the  bow  and 
arrow  to  need  towns  and  temples — certainly  no  such  devel- 
opment arose  i)i  these  more  northern  latitudes.  And  yet, 
if  we  make  some  peculiar  exceptions,  it  appears  difficult  to 
suppose  that  the  entire  race,  vi(!Wed  in  its  geni-ric  and  eth- 
nological aspect,  did  not  present  a  unity.  While  the  very 
amplitude  of  the  continent,  and  the  variety  of  its  soil,  cli- 
mate and  ))roductions,  would  lead,  inevitably,  to  divisions 
and  sub-divisions  of  tribes  and  languages,  there  are  chai'ac- 
teristics  so  deeply  sealed  in  their  organization  and  habits, 
physical  and  mental,  as  to  mark  them  as  a  peculiar  family 
of  the  Ked  Type  of  man.  Adopting  this  idea  of  unity  as  a 
basis  of  study,  there  are,  at  least,  fewer  obstacles  in  group- 
ing the  phenomena  from  w^hich  our  deductions  are  to  be 
drawn.     The  proof  of  negation  is  not  the  strongest  i)roof, 


ANCIENT    .\MKKIC.\N    IIIBTORV. 


SI 


^loiiiids 

ol    art 

liii'ics — 

IIIUIIU- 

(t  rove 

T (hero 

Jt'  most 

yet  rc- 

■iiduiits 

Itioiisof 

Jdcclrii- 

■r  tlicir 


I 


i 


but  it  is  snnit'tliin^  (o  asscit  that  they  arc  ncillirr  of  Ja- 
phetic or  ll.'iiMitic  oi'iij^iii.  In  the  traditions  of  onr  of  (lie  most 
ct'h'l)rat»(l  Muriii  American  tribes,  namely, the  Iro(|Uois,  the 
continent  or"  island,"  us  it  is  termed,  is  called  Aonio,*  and 
we  may  hence  denominate  the  race  Aonic,  and  the  indi- 
viduals Aonites.  If  we  d(j  not  advance  by  this  term  in  the 
oriffin  of  the  people,  we  at  least  advance  in  the  precision 
of  discussion. 

But  where  shall  we  find  a  basis,  on  which  to  rest  tlieir 
Chromdo^'y  ?  Must  we  run  back  to  the  epoch  of  the  ori^'i- 
nal  dispersion  of  man,  or  can  we  rest  at  a  sul)se(|uent  point  ? 
Has  the  era  of  Christianity  any  delinite  relation  to  their 
migration  !  Was  the  migration  designed,  or  accidental  ? 
Did  it  consist  of  one  tribe,  or  twenty  tribes  ?  Did  it  happen 
at  one  epoch,  or  many  epochs  ?  Have  they  wandered  liere 
eighteen  centuries,  or  double  that  period  ?  These  are  some 
of  the  incjuiries  that  naturally  occur. 

The  first  great  (|uestion  to  l)e  decided  in  the  history  of  the 
Red  Race,  is,  whether  they  were,  as  they  have  l)een  vaguely 
called,  the  aborigine!),  or  were  j)receded,  on  the  continent, 
by  other  races?  The  second,  whether  the  type  of  civiliza- 
tion, of  which  we  behold  evidences  in  Mexico,  Yucatan  and 
South  America,  was  an  indigenous  development  of  enei-gies 
latent  in  the  human  mind,  or  derived  its  leading  and  sug- 
gestive features  h'om  foreign  ia/ids  /  There  is  intermingled 
with  these  impiiries,  the  scarcely  less  important  one,  whether 
or  not,  the  antii/uarittn  ruins  of  America,  denote  an  element 
or  elements  of  Kurojiean  pnpui((ti<m,  in  the  later  eras,  wliose 
fate  became  involved  in  the  hunter  mass,  and  wlio  may  be 
supposed  to  have  been  completely  obliterated  Irom  the 
traditions  of  the  existing  tribes,  prior  to  the  discovery  by 
Columbus. 

Indian  tradition  has  little  or  nothing  to  oflfer  on  this  head. 
Time  and  barbarism  have  blotted  out  all.  Tlie  entire  sum 
of  the  traditions  of  all  the  vixrious  races  of  Red  men,  on  the 
continent,  when  sifted  from  the  mass  of  I'abulous  and  incou- 


Notes  on  the  Iroquois. 


23 


INCENTIVI'.S    TO    THE   8TI'»Y    OF 


priious  mutter  liv  wliich  it  is  nocoiTipunicd,  and  when  thorc 
is  any  allusion  toil  ,'if  all,  amounts  to  this:  thai  llicii  ances- 
tors came  from  the  east  ;  a  lew  tribes,  assert,  that  they  had 
come  by  water.*  The  land  from  whence  they  set  out,  the 
tinje  devotee,  to  tlie  purposes  oC  their  Ion},'  miy;rution,  and 
the  aelual  period  of  their  liiiidin;;,  and  all  such  t|uestions.  ai'e 
indeliuife.  And  we  must  re-construct  their  chronolojry,  in  the 
best  way  possible,  from  a  careful  system  of  patient  historical 
and  anficiufirian  indu<ition.  Exactitude  it  camiot  have,  but  "t 
may  rcivdi  plausibility.  (Jrantiny;  toth(!  Seandinaviaii,  ilio 
Ciipbriun  and  the  Italian  periods  of  adventure,  whi.  h  ha\e 
been  nauH'd,  the  lullest  limits,  in  j>oint  of  anliqiv  v,  hich 
have  under  any  circumstances  been  claimed,  we  camiot 
carry  even  this  species  of  history  beyond  the  year  A.  D. 
1001  ;  Icavini,'  091)  years  to  be  accounted  for,  to  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Christian  era.  The  A/tec  empire  which 
liad  reached  such  a  point  of  ma<;nilicencc  wlu  n  Mexico 
was  first  entered  by  Cortez,  in  1510,  did  mit,  according  to 
the  picture  writings  and  Mexican  chronologists,  date  back 
farther  than  1038,  or  by  another  authority,  058.  The  To!- 
tecs,  who  iiiLceded  them  in  the  career  of  empire,  and  whom 
together  with  tlu-  Chichimecs  and  their  allies  theyovcrthrew, 
do  not,  allowi/ii:  them  the  most  liberal  latitude  of  authors, 
extend  their  reign  beyond  A.  D.  (507.  Prior  to  this,  Indian 
chronology  makes  mention  of  the  Olmecs — a  peo})le  who 
are  described  as  having  mechanical  arts,  and  to  whom  even 
the  Toltecs  ascribed  the  erection  of  some  of  their  most 
antiiiue  and  magnificent  monuments.  According  to  Fer- 
nando D'Alva,  himself  ol  Aztec  lineage,  the  most  ancient 
date  assigned  to  the  entire  grf  >  |)  of  Mexican  dynasties  is 
A.  D.  yO!>  There  are  monui  ■  N  in  those  benignant 
latitudes  ol  j)er])etual  sumn)  >.  •  >  >;  '  as  the_,  are  from 
the  disiiitegrutiiig  etfects  of  Irosts,  which  corroborate  such 
a  chronology,  and  denote  even  a  more  ancient  population, 
who  were  builders,  agriculturists  and  worshi])pers  of  the 


\ 


i 


*  Such  lire  the  traditions  of  the  A/tucks  and  of  the  Athaiiasciis.     Ni'arly  every 
Aoi'ic  *ril>e,oii  the  coiiirary,  allirii!  that  their  ancestors  ctiine  out  oftiie  ground. 


f 


ANCIENT    AMRBU^AN    IMflTOHV. 


83 


■n  there 

I    IlllC'CS- 

cy  liful 
(tut,  the 
ion,  and 
ons.  arc. 
y,  in  tli(! 
storicai 
«•,  biif  it 
iuii,  lliu 
li  have 
y,     hich 
■  cannot 
ir  A.  D. 
the  coui- 
re  which 
Mexico 
u-ding  to 
ito  hack 
rhe  Tol- 
nd  whom 
'erthi'ow, 
authors, 
s,  Indian 
i\)\c  who 
loni  even 
eir  most 
to  Fer- 
t  ancient 
lasties  is 
fMiii^nan* 
ire  iVom 
ate  such 
|)uhition, 
s  ol'  the 


ciuiy  every 
I'.'  ground. 


sun.  But  we  ri  (dire  a  Car  longer  pi-riod  tlian  nny  thus 
(h'lioted,  to  iicfount  I'or  those  chanties  and  subdivisions 
\vhi<'h  have  l)cn    found  in  ihr  American  UinKUaifcs. 

liJintfuaue  isitsell'so  irrcfrayaltlc  a  '<'viiin(>ny  ol'thi-  mental 
adinities  ofnationa,  and  s'  >  slow  in  tlie  periods  ol  its  mutations, 
that  it  oilers  one  of  the  most  important  means  for  ^tudyiiidf 
the  history  of  the  pcoph*.  CIriunmars  and  vocabularies  are 
■re<iuircd  of  all  tlu'  tribes,  whose  history  aiul  rclaliois  uc  ^icek 
to  lathom,  belbri!  we  can  successl'uliy  compare  them  with 
each  other,  and  with  foreii>;n  lan;,aiaucs.  It  is  a  study  of  hiy;h 
interest,  from  the  diversity  and  curious  ])rinciples  ol  the 
dialects.  There  is  a  tieneral  agreement  in  the  principles 
of  Indian  utterance,  while  their  vcjcabularics  exhibit  wide 
variances.  Some  of  the  concords  re((uire(l,  are  anomalous 
to  the  occidental  graumiars,  wlule  then;  is  n  manifest  gen- 
eral resemblance  to  these  ancient  plans  of  lougbt.  The 
most  curious  features  consist  in  the  persouni  forms  of  the 
st  verbs,  the  constant  provision  tor  limiting  the   n-tion  to  spe- 

cific objects,  th(^  submergence  of  gender  in  mii  ly  cases  into 
two  great  organic  and  inorganic  classes  of  nai  u-e,  marked 
by  vitality  or  inertia,  and  the  extraordinary  power  of 
syllabical  conddr.ation,  by  which  Indian  lcxi(  tgraphy  is 
rendered  .so  graphic  and  descriptive;  in  the  bestowal  of 
names.  They  are  all,  or  nearly  all,  transpositiv(  and  poly- 
synthetic;  yet  although  now  found  in  a  very  com  etc  lorm, 
this  appears  to  have  been  not  their  original  form,  i)Ut  rather 
the  result  ot  the  progress  of  syllabical  accretion,  Iromafcw 
limited  roots  and  particles,  which  are  yet  when  dissected 
found  to  be  monosyllabic.  That  they  have  inco'-porated 
sonii!  of  the  Hebrew  pronouns,  and  while  like  this  1;  nguage, 
wanting  the  auxiliary  verb  to  he,  have  preserved  it  solemn 
causative  verb  lAU,  for  existence,  are  among  the  j  oints  of 
the  philology  to  be  explained.  13ut  I  have  not  time  to  pur- 
sue this  subject.  Even  these  notices  are  made  <at  the 
sacrifice  of  other  and  perhaps  more  generally  interesting 
traits  ot  their  antiquity. 

The  Ast7'onot/i  ij  of  the  American  tribes,  has  been  thought 
to  merit  attention,  in  any  attempts  to  compare  thei]  i  with 


24 


INCENTIVES   TO   THE    STUnv    OP 


forcijrn  nations.  The  rvidonces  of  the  attainments  of  tho 
ancient  Mexicans  in  this  science,  as  well  as  the  facts  of 
their  fietiei-al  history,  chronoloirv  and  lany^uajres,  have  been 
exii mined  hy  the  veneral)le  aich;eoh)^;ist  and  ex-statesman, 
who  presides  over  this  society,  in  a  critical  dissertation, 
published  by  the  American  Ethnological  Society,  which  is 
the  ablest  paper  of  the  age.  The  results  ot  Mr.  Gallatin's 
labors,  and  his  reading  of  the  ancient  scrolls  of  Mexican 
picture  writing.  pr(>served  in  (he  folios  of  Lord  Kingsborough, 
while  they  limit  the  amount  of  precise  historical  information 
ill  these  unique  rec(»rds  to  veiy  narrow  grounds,  yet  denote 
a  degree  of  system  and  exactitude,  both  in  their  chronology 
and  astronomy,  which  are  very  remarkable. 

The  simjile  astronomy  of  our  Aonic  tribes  of  the  north, 
gave  them  a  lunar  year,  consisting  of  twelve  moons.  They 
cons(M{uently  had  a  year  of  about  three  hundred  and  sixty 
days.  As  they  had  ho  names  for  days,  no  week  and  no 
subperiods  of  a  moon,  but  noticed  and  relied  simply  on  the 
moon's  phases,  they  did  not  brcome  acquainted  with  the 
necessity  of  intercalations  for  the  true  length  of  the  year. 
The  Aztecks  ol  ^Mexico,  on  the  contrary,  had  a  solar  year, 
and  had  made  an  extraordinary  advance  in  computing  the 
true  time.  Their  year  consisted  of  eighteen  months,  of 
twenty  days  each,  a  perfectly  arbitrary  system.  This  di- 
vision would  give  but  three  hundred  and  sixty  days  to  the 
year.  The  remaining  five  were  called  empty  or  superflous 
days,  and  were  added  to  the  last  month  of  the  eighteen.  A 
tropical  year  is,  however,  about  six  hours  longer  than  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five  days,  and  by  throwing  away  six 
hours  aimually,  there  would  be  an  entire  day  lost  every 
four  years.  The  Mexican  astronomers  were  well  aware  of 
this  IVict ;  but  instead  of  supplying  the  deficiency  every 
fourth  year  as  we  do,  they  disregarded  it  entirely,  till  a 
whole  cycle  consisting  of  fifty-two  years  was  completed, 
and  then  they  intercalated  thirteen  days,  to  make  up  the 
time  and  complete  their  cycle.  In  this  way  they  came  to 
the  same  result  as  the  Egj-jitians.  but  by  a  diffenMit  process, 
since  the  Egyptian  calendar  was  Ibunded  on  a  computation 


I 


■5 


.Ci 

CRIA 

V 

B. 

c. 

ANCIENT    AMERICAN    HISTORY. 


25 


of  tho 

acts  of 

been 

esinan, 

rtation, 
hich  is 
llatin's 
exican 

lorough, 
inatioii 
denote 

onology 


of  twelve;  lunar  months  of  thirty  (hiys  each.  It  was  pre- 
cisely the  same  in  th(M)l(l  Persian  calendar,  which  consisted 
of  a  year  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  days,  made  up  of 
twelve  months  of  thirty  days  each. 

The  Aztecs  divided  their  cycle  of  fifty  two  years,  into  four 
p(!riods  of  thirteen  years  ;  called  Ti.Ai,pir-M,  and  their  month 
of  twenty  days,  into  four  sub-periods,  or  weeks,  of  five  days. 
Th(!  cycle  was  called  Xiuiimolpillf,  which  signifies,  "the 
tying  up  of  years."  Each  day  of  the  month  had  a  separate 
iiaine,  derived  from  some  animate,  or  inanimate  object,  as 
Tochf/i,  a  rabbit,  Cal/I,  a  house,  All,  water,  Tcc/xitl,  Silex, 
Xocliitl,  a  [lower,  CohiiatI,  a  serpent.  The  fifth  day,  was 
a  fair  or  market  day.  The  names  of  the  days  were  repre- 
sent(Ml  by  hieroglyphic  figures  of  the  ol)jects  descril>ed.  Th(! 
divisions  were  perfect  and  regular,  and  enabled  them  to  de- 
note, in  their  scrolls  of  picture  writing,  the  chronology  of  the 
month,  and  ot  the  TIalpilli,  or  period  of  thirteen  years.* 

The  scheme  itself  denotes,  not  only  a  very  certjxin  mode 
of  keeping  the  record  of  time,  but  a  very  exact  knowledge 
of  the  tropical  year.  It  is  now  known  that  the  length  of  the 
year  is  precisely  three  hundred  and  sixty  five  days,  five  hours, 
forty  eight  minutes,  and  forty  eight  seconds ;  and  it  is 
perfectly  well  ascertained,  that  the  Aztecs  computed  its 
length,  at  the  period  of  their  highest  advance,  at  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty  tive  days,  five  hours,  forty  six  minutes,  and 
nine  seconds,  differing  only  two  minutes  and  thirty  nine  se- 
conds from  our  own  computation.!  There  isevidence,  indeed, 
that  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  this  continent,  had  more 
science,  than  is  generally  conceded.  If  we  are  to  credit 
writers,  the  Aztecs  unders'^^ood  the  true  causes  of  eclipses, 

*  As  to  the  mirket  day  or  week  of  five  days,  Sir  Win.  Jones  and  Sir  Siain- 
ford  [{nllleg,  tell  us  that  tiie  same  |)friod,  existed,  for  the  same  purpose,  in  India. 
Jn  (lie  symbols  for  days,  we  find  four  to  eonespoiid  exactly  with  the  zodiacal  signs 
of  India,  eiglit  with  those  ol  Thibet,  six  with  those  of  Siam  and  Japan,  and  others 
with  tiio-^e  of  the  (Chinese  and  Moguls. 

t  Willi  respect  to  iiUercaliitions,  various  periods  have  been  taken  by  ancient 
naljous.  And  while  we  take  the  shortest  p('ssi!)le  one,  of  four  years,  and  the  Az- 
tecs took  lifty  two,  the  Chinese  took  bi.xiy,  and  the  I'ersiaiis  one  hundred  and 
twenty. 


26 


INCENTIVES  TO  THE  STUDY  OF 


as  well  as  we  do,  Diaf^rams  exist,  in  their  pictorial  records, 
in  which  the  earth  is  represented  as  projecting  its  disc  upon 
the  moon — thus  indieatinir,  clearly,  a  true  knowledge  of 
this  phenomenon.  Mr.  Gallatin  remarks  that  the  Indian 
astronomical  system,  as  developed  in  Mexico,  is  not  one  of 
indigenous  origin,  but  that  they  had,  manifestly,  received  it, 
at  If'ast  their  calendar,  from  a  foreign  source.  Its  results 
could  not  have  been  attained  without  long  and  patient  ob- 
servations. Some  of  its  methods  of  combination,  in  the 
double  use  of  names  and  figures,  in  their  cycles,  are  thought 
to  denote  an  ancient  primitive  system  of  oriental  astronomy, 
r(!aching  back  to  the  earliest  times.  Here,  then,  we  have 
one  j)robable  I'act  to  serve  as  the  nucleus  of  antitpiarian 
testimony.     We  begin  it  al)road. 

The  architecture  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Mexico  and 
Pern,  has  been  illustrated,  within  a  few  years,  by  several 
elaborate  works;  and  the  subject  may  be  deemed  to  have 
been  brought,  by  these  works,  within  the  scope  of  study  and 
comparison.  There  are  two  features  in  this  uniciue  order  of 
architecture,  which  a})pear  to  denote  great  antiquity  in  the 
principles  develoj)ed.  namely,  the  arch  and  the  pyramid. 
I'hcse  nations  a])p(^ar  to  have  had  the  use  of  sciuares  and 
parallelograms,  in  their  geometry,  without  circles,  or  para- 
bolic lines.  The  only  tbrm  ol'  t!ie  arch  observed,  is  that  call- 
ed the  cycloi)can  arch,  which  is  made  by  one  course  of 
st(jnes  overlapping  another,  till  th(^  two  walls  meet,  and  a 
Hat  stone  covers  the  s[)ace.  This  is  the  earliest  type  of  the 
arch  known  among  mankind,  and  is  believed  to  be  more  an- 
cient than  the  foundation  of  any  city  in  Euro])e. 

The  |)yramid,as  developrd  in  llie  temple  of  the  sun  at  Tez- 
cuco,  the  Mexican  teocalli,  and  the  Aonic  mounds  of  North 
America,  compose  a  I'oi-m  of  architecture  e(|iially  ancient  ; 
which  can  be  traced  back  over  the  plains  of  Asia,  to  the 
period  of  the  original  dispersion  of  mankind.  The  tem|)le 
of  l)clus,  was  but  a  vast  ])yramid,  raised  tor  tlie  worship  of 
Bel.  Originating  in  the  Ilamitic  tiibes.  in  the  alluvial  val- 
lies  and  Hat-lands  ol  Asia  Minor,  a  pcrlect  inlatualion.  on 
the  subject,  appeal's  to  have  possessed  the  early  oriental  na- 


1 


% 


^ 


ANCIENT    AMERICAN    HI8T0BV. 


27 


[•ecords, 

sc  upon 

|ed^^e  of 

Indian 
It  one  of 
(eived  it, 

results 
tient  ob- 

in  the 

thought 

rononiy, 

we  have 

i(|uariaa 

xico  and 
y  several 

to  have 
itudy  and 
B  order  of 
ity  in  the 
pyramid, 
lares  and 
1,  or  para- 
that  call- 
course  of 
eet,  and  a 
i\>e  of  the 
more  an- 

m  at  Tez- 
!  of  North 
ancient  ; 
sia,  to  the 
le  temple 
vorship  of 
iivial  val- 
uation. (Ill 
iental  na- 


tions, and  they  carried  the  idea  into  the  valley  of  the  Nile, 
and.  indeed,  wherever  they  went.  It  appeared  to  be  the 
substitute  of  idolatrous  nations,  on  alluvial  lands,  for  an 
isolated  hill,  or  promontory.  It  was  at  such  points  that 
Baal  and  IJel  were  worshipi)ed,  and  hence  the  severe  injunc- 
tions of  the  sacred  volume,  on  the  worship  established  in 
ihe  oi-iental  Avorld  "on  high  places."'  ^uch  wasthe  position 
of  the  pyramids  in  the  valliesol'lhe  Eu])hrates  and  the  Nile, 
and  the  idt'a  appears  to  have  reached  America  v\  ilhout  any 
deviation  wliatev(?r  in  its  relative  position,  or  its  general 
design.  It  was  every  were,  throughout  America,  as  we  find 
it,  in  the  vallies  of  Mexico  and  the  Mississippi,  erected  in  rich 
and  level  vallies,  or  plains,  and  dedicated  to  idolatrous 
worsliip. 

The  mound  builders  of  North  Amt  rica,  north  of  the 
tropical  latitudes,  appear  like  bad  copyists  ot  a  sublime 
original.  They  retained  the  idea  of  the  oriental  pyramid, 
but  being  no  mechanics  constructed  piles  of  earth  to  answer 
the  ancient  purpose,  both  of  worship  and  interment.  Our 
largest  structures  of  this  kind,  are  the  mound  of  Grave 
Creek  in  West<'rn  Virginia,  containing  about  three  millions 
of  cubic  feet,  and  the  great  group  of  the  Monks  of  La  Trapjx: 
in  Illinois,  estimated  at  seven  millions  of  cubic  feet.*  Those 
of  Saint  Louis,  mount  JoJiet,  and  the  Blue  mounds  respec- 
tively f)ie  now  known  to  be  ol' a eo/os;ic(/ 1  origin. 

But  the;  Mexican  and  South  American  tribes  built  more 
boldly,  and  have  left  several  specimens  of  the  pyramids, 
which  deserve  to  be  mentioned,  as  well  from  the  evidences 
they  afford  of  mechanical  skill,  as  from  their  magniticent 
proportions,  and  tlieir.  Nilotic  power  of  endurance.  I'he 
j)yrfimid  ot  Cholula,  in  the  valley  of  Mexico,  exists  in  tliree 
vast  steps,  retreating  as  they  ascend,  the  highest  of  which 
was  crowned  with  a  temple,  whose  base  was  one  hundred 
and  seventy-seven  leet  above  the  plain.  This  is  nine  feet 
higher  than  that  of  Myrcerinus,  the  third  of  the  great  group 
of  Ghiza  on  the  Nile  ;  but  its  base  of  one  thousand  four 


*  The  central  inound  of  this  group  has  been  cut  through  since  the  date  ol'  my 
pnper  before  the  ]']lhnological  Society,  and  proved  to  be  artifirinl 


28 


INCENTIVES    TO    THE    STl'DY    OF 


liuiidrcd  and  twcnty-threo  foot,  oxccods  that  ol'  any  edifice 
oi'  the  kind  found  by  travelh'rs  in  the  old  world,  and  is 
double  that  of  Cheops.  To  realize  a  clear  idea  of  its  mag- 
nitude, \ve  may  imayine  a  solid  structure  of  earth,  bricks 
and  stone,  which  would  fill  the  Washinjiton  pai-ade  ground, 
sijuared  by  its  east  and  west  lines,  and  rising  seventy-five 
feet  above  the  turi'cts  ol'the  New  York  University. 

The  pyramids  of  the  emjnre  of  the  Incas  are  not  less 
remarkable.  There  are  at  Saint  Juan  'J'eotihuacan,  near 
lake  Tezcuco,  in  the  JMexican  valley,  two  very  large  an- 
tique ])yramids,  which  were  consecrated*  by  the  ancient 
inhabitants  to  the  Sun  and  Moon.  The  largest,  called 
Tonatiuh  Ytzahiual,  or  the  House  of  the  Sun,  has  a  base  of 
two  hundred  and  eight  metres,  or  six  hundred  and  eighty- 
two  English  feet  in  length,  and  fil'ty-live  metres  or  one 
hundred  and  eighty  feet  perpendicular  elevation ;  being 
three  feet  higher  than  the  gre.at  pyramid  of  Cholula.  'J"he 
other,  called  Meztu  Ytza([ual,  or  House  of  the  Moon,  is 
thirty-six  feet  lower,  and  has  a  lesser  base.  These  monu- 
ments, according  to  the  first  accounts,  wvvv  erected  by  the 
most  ancient  tribes,  and  were  the  models  of  the  Aztec 
Teocalli.  The  faces  of  these  pyramids  are  within  fifty-two 
seconds,  exactly  north  and  south  and  east  and  west.  'J'heir 
interior  consists  of  massive  clay  and  stone.  This  solid 
nucleus  is  covered  by  a  kind  of  porous  amygdaloid,  called 
tetzontli.  They  are  ascendcnl  by  stejjs  of  hewn  stone  to 
their  pinnacles,  where  tradition  affirms,  there  were  anciently 
statues  covered  with  thin  lamina  of  gold.  Ar.d  it  was  on 
these  sublime  heights,  \vith  the  clear  trojiical  skies  of  iMex- 
ico  above  them,  that  the  Toltec  magi  lit  the  sacred  fire 
uj)on  their  altars,  olfered  up  incense,  and  chanted  hymns. 

One  fact  in  connexion  with  these  ancient  structures  is 
remarka])le,  on  account  of  its  illustrative  character  of  the 
use  of  our  small  mounds.  Around  the  base  of  these  pyra- 
mids, theie  were  found  numerous  smaller  pyramids,  or 
cones  ol  scarcely  nin(>  or  ten  metres — twenty-nine  to  thirty 
i'eet  elevation,  which  were  dedicated  to  the  staks.  These 
minor  elevations,  were  generally  arranged  at  right  angles 


sw»«  ■  -™*iK*c«5fta>r'-sw»'***^^ 


ANCIENT    AMERICAN    HISTORY. 


20 


edifice 
and  is 
|ls  mag- 
bricks 
Iground, 
Inty-fivc 

not  loss 
|tn,  Ilea  I' 
c  an- 
aiiciciit 
,  called 
base  of 
cighly- 
or  one 
;  being 
I.     The 
^loon,  is 
e  monu- 
J  by  the 

3     Azt(!C 

fifty-two 
.     Their 
lis    solid 
;1,  called 
stone  to 
nciently 
Avas  on 
of  jMex- 
red  fire 
y'lnns. 
tuies  is 
r  of  the 
e  pyra- 
nids,  or 
o  thirty 
'J'hese 
angles 


I 


They  furnished  also  places  of  sepulture  for  their  distin- 
guished chiefs,  and  hence  the  avenue  leading  through  them, 
was  called  Micoatl,  or  Road  of  the  Dead.  We  have  in  this 
arrangement  a  hint  of  the  object  of  the  numerous  small 
mounds,  which  generally  surround  the  large  mounds  in  the 
Mississippi  valley — as  may  be  witnessed  in  the  remarkable 
group  of  La  Trappe,  in  Illinois.  A  similar  arrangement, 
indeed,  prevails  in  the  smaller  series  of  the  leading 
mound  groups  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  They  may  be  called 
Star-mounds.  If  this  theory  be  correct,  we  have  not  only  a 
satisfactory  explanation  of  the  object  of  the  smaller  groups, 
which  has  heretofore  puzzled  inquirers ;  but  the  presence 
of  such  groups  may  be  taken  as  an  evidence  of  the  Mide 
spread  worship  of  the  Sun,  at  an  early  period  in  these 
latitudes. 

Sun-worship  existed  extensively  in  North  America  as 
well  as  South.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  ancestors 
of  all  the  principal  existing  tribes  in  America,  worship|)ed 
an  Eternal  Fire.  Both  fi-om  their  records  and  traditions, 
as  well  as  their  existing  monuments,  this  deduction  is  ir- 
resistible. Not  only  the  Olmecs  and  Toltecs,  who  built  the 
temples  of  the  sun  and  moon,  near  the  lake  ol  Tezcuco — 
not  only  the  Auricaneans,  who  obeyed  the  voice  of  the  First 
Inca,  in  erecting  the  temple  of  the  Sun  at  the  foot  of  the 
Andes  ;  but  the  Aztecs,  even  at  the  later  and  more  cor- 
rupted period  of  their  rites,  adhered  strongly  to  this 
lundamental  rite.  It  is  to  be  traced  from  the  tro])ical 
latitudes  into  the  Mississippi  valley,  where  the  earth-mound 
it  is  apprehended,  rudely  supplied  th(>  place  of  its  more 
gorgeous,  southern  prototype.  When  they  had  raised  the 
])ile  of  earth  as  high  as  their  means  and  skill  dictated,  facts 
denote  that  they  erected  temples  and  altars  at  its  apex.  On 
these  altars,  tradition  tells  us,  they  burned  the  tobacco 
plant,  which  maintains  its  sacred  character  unim])aire(!  to 
the  present  day.  From  the  traditions  which  are  yet  e,\l;ii)t 
in  some  of  the  trib(>s.  they  regarded  the  sun  as  the  syinliol 
oi'  Diviw  [nh'lligcnce.  They  paid  him  no  human  saci'iHccs, 
but  olfered  simply  incense,  and  dances  and  soncrs.     'I  hey 


.'{0 


INfT.NTIVES    TO    THE    STmV    OF 


had  an  order  ol"  pri^'slhood,  resembling  the  ancient  ma^i, 
who  possessed  the  highest   inlUieiice  and  ijfoverned  the  des- 
tinies of  t  lie  tribes.     Jt  is  j)ast  all  doubl  that  Manco  Cai)ae, 
was  himself  one  of  these  ni.iiri  :  and  it  is  e(iually  apparent, 
that  the  order  exists  at  this  day,  althoujrh  shorn  of  much  ol 
its  ancient,    external    splendor,  in  tlu;  solemn  meiais,  and 
sacrilicial  juKSdliccds.  who  sway  the  sim])le   multitudes  in 
the  North  American    Ibrests.       Among    these  tribes,    the 
graphic  Kc-ke-win,  which  depicts  the  tSun.  stands  on  their 
j)ictorial  rolls,  as  the  symbol  of  the  Great  >S])irit  ;  and  no 
important  rite  or  ceremony  is  undertaken  without  an  oll'er- 
ing  of  tobacco.     'J'his  weed  is  lit  with  the  sacred  element, 
generated  anew  on  each  occasion,  from  percussion.      To 
light  and  to  put  out  this  fire,  is  the  symbolic  language  lor 
the  o|)ening  and  closing  of  every  important  civil  or  religious 
public  transaction,  and  it  is  the  most  sacred  rite  known  to 
them.     It  is  never  done  without  an  appeal,  which  has  the 
characteristics  of  prayer,  to  the  Great  Sj)irit.     To  lind  in 
America,  a  system  of  worship  which  existed  in  jMeso{)otamia, 
in  the  era  of  the  patriarch  Job,  one  thousand  live  hundred 
and    lifty  years   betbre  the  advent  of   Christ,  is  certainly 
remarkable,  and  is  suggestive  both  of   the  antiquity  and 
origin  of  the  tribes. 

Geology  is  not  without  its  testimony  in  tliis  coimexion. 
The  anticjuity  of  human  occupancy  in  the  IMississi])])i  val- 
ley is  so  extreme,  that  it  !tj)pears   to  mingle   its   evidciices 
with  sonu!  of  its  more  recent  geological  jjhenomena.     The 
gradual   disintegration  and  replacement  ol  strata  in  that 
(juarter  of  the  country,  involve  facts  which  are  (juite  in  ac- 
cordance with  evidences  of  ancient  eras  drawn  from  other 
sources.     It  is  some  seven  and  twent-    'cars  since  the  ear- 
liest evidences  of  this  kind  arrested     .y  attention.     J  was 
then  descenitinir  the  valley  of  the  L'NIcau  or  White  river,  in 
the  present  area  ol'  Arkansas.     'J'his  is  om>  of  that  series  of 
lariic  slreams  w  liieh  descends  the  great  slope  orWasscrshicd, 
exteniling   from   the   fo(;t  of  the   Rocky  Mountains  into  the 
lower  Missi^si|.i)i.     'i'iiese  streams  have  cariJed  down  lor 
aj^es  the  loosened  materials  of  the  elevated  and  mountain- 


inajri. 
lie  tk's- 


Jiown  to 
has  the 
J  iiiul  in 
potamia, 
hundred 
certainly 
uity  and 

)nnexion. 
-ij)])i  val- 
!videi:ces 
la.  The 
I  in  that 
ite  in  ac- 
orn other 
'  tlie  ear- 
1.  1  was 
'  river,  in 
series  of 
ssers/iicd, 
>  into  the 
down  lor 
uountain- 


ANCIENT    AMERICAN    HISTORY. 


31 


ous  parts  of  that  great  range  into  tht;  delta  of  the   Missis- 
sippi, (illing  u])  immense  ancient  iiihits  and  seas,  and  pusli- 
ing  its  estuary  into  tlie  Mexican  gulf.     They  arc  still  to  be 
regarded   as   the   vast  geological   laboratory  in   which    so 
large  a  part  of  the  plains,  islands  and  shores  ol' that  great 
otf-drain   of  th(>  continent  have   been  prej)ared.     The  evi- 
dences referred  to  in  the  descent  of  the  Unicau,  consisted  of 
antitjue,  coarse  ])ottery,  scoria  and  ashes,  together  with  a 
metallic    alloy  of  a  whitish    hue,  but  capable   of  being  cut 
partially  with  a  knil'c.     There  were  also  deposites  of  bones, 
but  so  decayed  and  fragmentary  as  to  make  it  impossible 
to  determine  their  specilic  character.  All  these  were,  geolo- 
gically, beneath  the  various  strata  of  sand,  loam  and  veget- 
able mould,  supporting  the  heavy  primitive   forest  of  that 
valley.     At  Little  Rock,  in  the  valley  of  the  Arkansas,  ves- 
tiges of  art  have  recently  bf^Mi  found  in  similar  bt^ds  of  de- 
nudation, at  considerable  depths  below  the  surface  of  the 
wooded  plains.     They  consisted  of  a  subterraneous  furnace, 
together  with  broken  clay  kettles.     In  other  portions  of  this 
wide  slope  of   territory,  a  s|)ecies  of  anti(iue  bricks  have 
been  disinterred.*     It  is  in  this  general  area,  and  in  strata 
of  a  similar  age,  that  gigantic  bones,  tusks  and  teeth  of  the 
mastodon,  and  other  extinct  quadrupeds,  have  been  so  pro- 
fusely found  within  a  few  years,  particularly  in  the  Osage 
valley. 

But  the  greatest  scene  of  superficial  disturbance  of  j)ost- 
human  occupancy,  appears  in  the  great  alluvial  angle  of 
territory  which  lies  between  tin;  Mississippi  and  Ohio,  ex- 
tending to  their  junction.  This  area  constitutes  the  grand 
prairie  section  of  lower  Illinois.  The  Big  Bone  Lick  of  the 
Ohio,  the  original  seat  (jf  the  discovery  of  tlie  l)ones  of  the 
megalonyx  and  mastodon,  announced  by  Mr.  Jeil'erson  to 
the  philosophers  of  Europe,  connects  itself  with  this  element 
of  continental  disturbance.  Its  western  limits  are  cut 
through  by  the  !Mi.>sissippi,  which  washes  precipitous  cliffs 
of  rock,  between  a  proniuiitory  or  natural  pyramid  of  linie- 


»  Arkansaa  pajjer. 


3'2 


INCENTIVES    TO    TIIK    STUDY    OP 


stoiio,  .stan(liii{r  in  its  bed  culled  Grand  Towrr,  and  the  city 
of  St.  Jiouis,  oxtcntUn^  even  to  a  point  oppositi-  the  junction 
of  the  Missouri.  Directly  opposite  these  secondai-y  clills, 
on  the  Illinois  shore,  extends  transversely  Ibr  one  hundred 
miles,  the  noted  alluvial  tract  called  the  American  bottom. 
This  tract  discloses,  at  jrreat  depths,  buried  trunks  of  trees, 
iresh-vvater  shells,  animal  hones  and  various  wrecks  of 
j)re-exisfiiig  orders  of  the  Jinimal  and  vegetable  creation. 
On  the  banks  of  the  iSabine  river,  which  flows  into  the  Ohio, 
there  was  found,  some  few  years  ago,  in  the  progress  of 
excavations  made  for  salt  water,  coarse  clay  kettles  of  from 
eight  to  ten  gallons  capacity,  and  fragments  of  earthenware, 
imbedded  at  the  depth  of  eighty  te(^t.  The;  limestone  rocks 
of  the  Missouri  coast,  above  noticed,  which  form  the  western 
verge  of  this  antii|ue  lacustrine  sea,  have  produced  some 
curious  organic  foot-tracks  of  animals  and  other  remains  ; 
and  the  faces  of  these  clitfs  exhibit  deep  and  well  marked 
water  lines,  as  if  they  had  been  acted  on  by  a  vast  body  of 
water,  standing  for  lon<r  and  fixed  periods,  at  a  high  level, 
and  subject  to  be  acted  on  by  winds  and  tempests.  Indeed, 
it  retjuires  but  little  examination  of  the  various  phenomena, 
offered  at  this  central  point  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  to  sup- 
pose that  the  soutiiern  boundary  of  this  ancient  oceanic- 
lake,  ran  in  the  direction  of  the  Grand  Tower  and  Cave  in 
rock  groups,  and  that  an  arm  of  the  sea  or  gulf  of  Mexico, 
must  have  extended  to  the  indicated  foot  of  this  ancient 
lacustrine  barrier.  At  this  ])oint,  there  appear  evidences 
also  of  the  existence  of  miglity  ancient  cataracts.  'J'hc  t()})ic 
is  one  which  has  Inijjressed  me  as  being  well  entitled  to 
invcstiiiation,  iind  is  )i;istily  introduced  here  among  the 
branches  of  inijniry  bearing  on  i7iy  subject.  ]>ut  it  cannot 
be  dwelt  upon,  although  it  is  connected  with  an  interesting 
class  of  kindred  phenomena,  in  other  parts  of  the  west. 

I  have  already  occupied  the  time,  which  1  had  prescribed 
to  niyself  in  these  remarks.  It  has  been  impossible  to  con- 
sidei-  many  topics,  upon  which  a  true  understanding  of  the 
aiiliiiue  period  of  our  history  depends.  But  1  canni  >  close 
llieni,  williout  a  brief   allusion  to  the  leading    tr.iits  and 


ANUIENT    AMEUICAN    IIIHTORY. 


33 


luo, 
of 


history  of  thd  lied  lv;ic(\  whose  foinidr  advanco  in  tlio  arts, 
and  wliosc  scini-ci\  ili/.atioii  in  the  ctiuiiioi-tial  latitudes  of 
the  continent,  we  have  been  contemplating. 

That  th(!se  trihes  arc  a  jJcopUr  of  groat  antitjuity,  far 
greater  than  has  been  assigned  to  them,  is  denoted  by  the 
considerations  already  mentioned.  Tlieir  languages,  their 
astronomy,  their  architecture  and  their  very  ancient  reliiiion 
and  mythology,  prove  this.  Jkit  a.  pe()))li'  who  li\c  without 
letters,  must  expect  their  history  to  perish  with  them.  Tra- 
dition soon  degenerates  into  fable,  and  fable  has  tilled  the 
oldest  histories  of  the  worlil.  with  childish  incongruities  and 
recitals  of  gross  immoraliti<'s.  hi  this  rcs])ect,  the  Indian 
raci^  have  evinced  less  imagination  than  the  Greeks  and 
Uomans,  who  have  filled  the  world  with  their  lewd  philoso- 
phy of  genealogy,  Init  their  myths  arc  quite  as  rational  and 
often  better  founded  than  those  of  the  latter.  To  restore 
their  history  from  the  rubbisli  of  their  traditions,  is  a  hoi)e- 
less  task.  Wc;  nmst  rely  on  other  data,  the  nature  of  which 
has  been  mentioned.  To  seek  iuiiong  ruins,  to  decypher 
hieroglyphics,  to  unravel  myths,  to  study  ancient  systems  of 
worship  and  astronomy,  and  to  investigate  vocabularies  and 
theories  of  language,  arc  the  chief  methods  before  us  ;  and 
these  call  for  the  perseverance  of  Sysiphus  and  th(^  clear 
inductive  powers  of  liacon.  Who  shall  touch  th(^  scattered 
bones  of  aboriginal  iiistory  with  the  spear  of  truth,  and 
cause  the  skeleton  of  their  ancient  society  to  arise  and  live  ? 
We  may  never  see  this  ;  but  we  may  hold  out  incentives  to 
the  future  scholai",  to  lal)or  in  this  department. 

Of  their  origin,  it  is  yet  premature,  on  the  basis  of  ethno- 
logy, to  decide.  There  is  no  evidence — not  a  particle,  that 
the  tribes  came  to  the  continent  after  the  opening  of  the 
Christian  era.  Their  religion  bears  far  more  the  charac- 
teristics of  Zoroaster,  than  of  Christ.  It  has  also  rmich 
more  that  assimilates  it  to  the  land  of  Chaldea,  than  to  the 
early  days  of  the  land  of  Palestine.  The  Cyclo])ean  arch, 
and  the  form  of  the  jjyramid,  point  ])ack  to  very  ancient 
periods.  Their  language  is  constru<ted  on  a  very  anti<iue 
plan  of  thought.     Their  symbolic  system  of  i)icture  writing 


34 


INCENTIVI..-J   TO  Tin;  srniY  of 


is  posilivrly  the  oldest  and  lirsf  I'oriii  ol'  rcrordin'jc  ideas  tlu> 
world  ever  knew.  Tiie  worsliip  ol  the  snn  is  tlie  earliest 
I'oriii  of  liiiiii:iii  iddlatry.  Tlieir  cjileiidar  and  syslein  ol' 
astronomy  reveal  trails  eoinmon  to  ll.at  ol'  C'liiiia,  I'er.sia, 
or  lliiidostan.  Mr.  Gallatin,  Irotn  llie  consideration  of  the 
lanjruair<'s  alone,  is  ineliiied  to  thiidi  that  they  miiiht  liavc; 
reached  the  continent  within  liv(  hmiih'ed  yi'ars  aiiei"  the 
orijjinul  dispersion.  That  they  are  of  tlie  Sheinilic  stock, 
cannot  he  (|Ucstioned.  'Die  only  [)oint  to  he  settled,  indeed. 
ai)pears  to  he.  from  what  branch  of  that  vvvy  widely  dis- 
))ersed,  and  interniini,ded  race  of  idolaters  and  Avarriors 
tliey  broke'  loose,  and  how,  and  in  what  miinner.  afd  during 
what  era,  or  eras,  they  Toiind  tlieir  way  to  these  shoves? 

Hut,  however  these  (|uestions  may  ])v  decided,  this  is  cer- 
tain, that  civilization,  government  and  arts  l)egan  to 
dcveloj)e  themselves  first  in  the  tropical  regions  of  Mexico 
and  Central  America.  Mexico  itself,  in  the;  process 
of  time,  became  to  the  ancient  Indian  tribes,  the  Home  of 
America.  Like  its  proud  prototype  in  Europe,  it  was  in- 
vad(Hl  by  one  barbaric  tribe  after  an  t^her,  to  riot  and  ])lun- 
der,' but  who,  in  the  end,  adopted  the  type  of  civilization, 
which  they  fame  to  destroy.  Such  was  the  origin  of  the 
Toltecs    and  the  Aztecs,  wliom  Cortez  coiKiuered. 

When  we  turn  our  view  from  this  ancient  centre  of  Indian 
power,  to  the  latitudes  of  the  American  Republic,  we  find 
the  territory  covered,  at  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, with  numerous  tribes,  of  divers  languages,  existing  in 
the  mere  hunter  state,  or  at  most,  with  some  habits  of  hor- 
ticulture superadded.  They  had  neither  cattle  nor  arts. 
They  were  bowmen  and  spearmen — roving  and  predatory, 
with  very  little,  if  any  thing,  in  their  traditions,  to  link 
them  to  these  jjrior  central  families  of  men,  but  with  nearly 
every  thing  in  their  j)hysical  and  intellectual  tyjie,  to  favor 
such  a  generic  aliiliation.  They  erected  groups  of  mounds, 
to  sacrifice  to  the  sun.  moon  and  stars.  They  were,  origi- 
nally, fire-worshi])pers.  They  spoke  one  general  class  of 
transpositive  languages.  They  liad  implements  of  c()j)per, 
as  well  as  of  si  lex.  and   por])hyries.     They  matle  cooking 


ANCIKNT    AMERI(;.\N    lllfl'roRV. 


art 


llir 
irst 
ol" 
si;i, 
the 
;»\(' 
the 

I  irk, 
,(■(1. 

(lis- 
iors 
I  rill-,' 
;/ 

;  ce  I'- 
ll to 
exicn 
ocess 
iiic  of 
ti>i  in- 
plun- 
atioii, 
)f  tlie 


v<'ssel.s  of  totnpcn'd  clay.  Tlicy  carved  very  h»'autiful  iind 
{H'rU'ct  models ot'birds and  <|uadiii|)cds, out ol'sloiie,  as \vc  set! 
ill  some  re(;eiitly  opened  nioiiiids.  'I'liey  eulti\  Jited  the  most 
iiiip(jrtaiit  ol'  all  tlie  ancient  Mexican  y:rains,  the  zcii mays. 
Thev  raised  the  tobacco  plant,  to  he  oti'ered,  to  their  Clods, 
as  iVanUinceiise.  Tiiey  used  the  A/tec  dium  in  their  reli- 
gious ceremonies  and  war  diinces.  They  employed  tin- 
Very  ancient  Asiatic  art  of  recordintj;  ideas,  hy  means  of 
representalive  devices.  They  helieved  in  the  oriental  doc- 
trines of  transfornifition.  and  tin-  power  of  necrninancy. 
Tiicir  (a-al  fictions  on  this  head,  an'  so  replete  w  ith  fancy, 
that  they  mijfht  give  scope  to  llu'  lyre  of  some  future  west- 
ern Ovid.  Tliey  held,  with  I'ythaj^-oras,  tlu;  doctrine  of  tlie 
transmii^ration  of  souls.  Tfiey  helieved.  indeed,  in  dujili- 
catc  souls.  They  fielieved  with  Zoroaster,  in  the  two  jireat 
creative  and  anta'j:onistical  principles  of  Onmisd  and  Ahri- 
man,  and  tli^y  fiad  tiikv,  and  have  srii.i,.  an  inlliiential  and 
powerlul  order  of  jiriests,  who  uphohl  the  principles  of  a 
sacred  fire. 

'J'o  these  principles,  they  a|)peal  non\  as  they  did  in  the 
days  of  the  discovery.  They  helicve  in  the  sacred  charac- 
ter of  Fire,  and  regard  it  as  the  mysterious  element  of  the 
Universe,  which  typilics  the  Divinity.  They  helicve,  and 
practice  strictly,  with  the  d(!sc(Mulants  of  Ahraham,  the  law 
ot  separation,  hut  not  th<'  |)ractice  of  circumcision,  ^\i1h 
the  ancient  IMio'nicia ns,  tlicy  altrihuti'  extraordinary  {)0\\- 
ers,  to  the  wisdom  and  subtlety  of  the  .Serpent,  and  this' 
re|)tile  holds  a  high  place  in  their  mythology.  They  regard 
the  Tortoise,  as  the  original  increment,  and  medium  of  the 
creation  ot  the  Earth,  and  view  the  Bear  and  the  Wolf  as 
enchanted  heroes  of  supernatural  eiieriries.  And  they  have 
adopted  the  devices  of  these  three  afiiiiials  as  the  general 
Totemic  types  and  bond  ol  their  separation  into  clans. 
Tliey  are  as  observant  as  any  of  the  orientalists  were,  ol 
tin.'  Uiglit  of  birds.  They  draw,  with  the  ancient  ("hahleans, 
](rognostications  from  the  clouds.  'J'hey  preserve  the  simple 
mii^ic  of  ihe  Arcadian  pipe,  which  is  dedicated  to  love. 
'J'hcy  jjcople    their   woods    and   mountains,   and   romantic 


:)(t 


INCKNTIVES    TO    TIIK    8TUDV    OF 


\vat(M'-ralls,  with  vnrious  oljisscs  of  wood  atid  wator  nymphs, 
lairics  and  jrcnii.     'I'lu'y  had  anticipatrd  thr  author  of  th(i 
"  l{a|)r  of  tli<^  Lock"  in  the  creation  of  a  class  of  personal 
jifiiomes,  wlio  ninihly  dance  over  the   lineaments  of  the  lui- 
niiin  frame.     They  have  a  class  of  seers  and  prophets,  who 
inulter  from  the  jiround,  the  decisions  ot  fate   and   Provi- 
dence.    They  Ixdieve  in  the  idea  of  jijliosts,  witchcraft,  and 
vampires.     They  place  the  utmost  reliance  on  dreams  and 
iii;!;[it  visions.     A  dn'am  and  a  revelation,  an*  synonymous. 
Coimeils  are  called,  and  hattles  are  fouij:ht  on  th('  projy^nos- 
tications  ot"  a  dream.     They  are  astrolojjers  and  star->?azers, 
and  draw  no  small  part  of  their  mythology  Irom  the  skies. 
They   fast  to  obtain  the  favor  of  the  Deity,  and  they  feast, 
at  the  return  of  the  first  fruits.     They  have   concentrated 
the  wisdom  and  fancy  of  their  forefathers  and  sajijes,  in  al- 
h'i^^ories  and  fables.     Witii  the  Arabs,  they  are  jj;ifted  in  the 
relation  of  fictitious  domestic   tales,  in  which  necromancy 
and  i^enii,  constitute  the  machinery  of  tliou}.fht.     With  the 
ancient  Mesopotamians,  Persians  and  Copts,  they  practice 
the  old  art  of  ideographic,  or  picture   writing.     They   are 
ex(M'llent    local    geograjjhers,    and    practical    naturalists. 
There  is  not  an  animal,  fish,  insect  or  re[)til(i  in  America, 
whose  character  and  habitudes  they  do  not  accurately  and 
practically  know.     They  belic've  the  earth  to  be  a  plain, 
with  four  corners,  and  the  sky  a  hemisphere  of  material 
substance  like  brass,  or  metal,  through  which  the  planets 
'shine,  and  around  which  the  sun  and  moon  revolve.     Over 
all,  they  install  the  power  of   an   original    Deity,  who    is 
called  the  Great  Spirit,  who  is  worshipped  by  fire,  who  is 
invoked  by  prayer,  and  who  is  regarded,  from  the  clifFs  of 
the  jNIonadnock,*  to  the  waters  of  the  Nebraska,f  as  omnij)o- 
tent,    immaterial,  and  omi\ipresent. 

That  this  race  has  dwelt  on  the  continent  long  centuries 
before  the  Christian  era,  all  facts  testify.  If  they  are  not 
older  as  a  people,  than  most  of  the  present  nations  on  the 


»  A  iiinuiitiiin  ill  New  Ilniniishiri',  seiMi  rrmii  the  sea. 
t  The  Iiidiiin  nuiiie  of  tlie  river  La  I'hue 


itfT  nymplis, 
|tl(llor  ()(■    flir- 
of  personal 
Jfs  of  t\w  hu- 

|l'0|)ll('t.S,  who 

■ind  Provi- 
h'liemri,  and 
'Jreams  and 
hynonymou.s. 
the  projL^nos- 
I  star-jrazers, 
•ni  f'lf  skies. 
'1  flicy  i'vast, 
concentrated 
«a^'es,  in  al- 
J^if'ted  in  the 
necromancy 
f-     With  the 
'»<'y  practice 
(•     'i'hey  are 
naturah'sts. 
i»  America, 
curately  and 
'^  'jo  a  plain, 
of  material 
the  planets 
olve.     Over 
'Jty,  who   is 
fire,  who  is 
the  dills  of 
^  as  omnipo- 

g  centuries 
hey  are  not 
ions  on  ihe 


J 


ANCIF.NT    AMERICAN    HISTORY. 


37 


Asiatic  shores  of  the  Indian  ocean,  as  has  been  su^fgested, 
they  are  certainly  anterior  in  a^je,  to  the  various  yroiips 
of  the  1V)1  snesian  i.slands.  They  have,  it  is  apprehended, 
taken  the  impress  of  their  character  and  mtuital  ideoeracy 
from  the  early  tribes  of  Western  Asia,  which  was  originally 
peopled,  to  a  frrv.at  extent,  by  the  descendants  of  Sluin. 
These  tierce  tribes  erowd«!d  each  other,  as  one  politieal 
wave  trenches  on  another,  till  they  have  apparently  travers- 
ed its  utmost  bounds.  How  they  have  ellect(;(l  the  traject 
here,  and  by  what  process,  or  contingency,  an>  merely  cu- 
rious questions,  and  can  never  be  satisfactorily  answered. 
The  theory  of  a  mijjration  by  Behring's  straits,  is  untenable. 
If  we  could  find  adecjuate  motives  for  men  to  cross  tlnMice, 
we  cannot  deduce  the;  tropical  animtils.  We  cannot  erect 
a  history  iVom  materials  so  slendtir.  It  may  yield  one 
element  of  population  ;  but  we  require  the  origin  of  many. 
But  while  we  seek  for  times  and  nations,  we  have  the 
indubitable  evidences  of  the  general  <>vent  or  events  in  the 
people  before  us,  and  we  are  Justified  by  philology  alone,  in 
assigning  to  it  an  epoch  or  epochs,  which  are  sufKeiently 
remote  and  conlbrmable  to  the  laws  of  climate,  to  account 
for  all  the  phenomena.  No  such  epoch  seems  adetjuate 
this  side  of  the  final  overthrow  of  Babylon,  or  general  dis- 
persion of  mankind,  or  the  period  of  the  con(|uest  of 
Palestine.  One  singular  and  extraordinary  result,  in  the 
fulfilment  of  a  very  ancient  prophecy  of  the  human  family, 
may  be  noticed.  It  is  this.  Assuming  the  Indian  tribes  to 
be  o:'  Shemitic  origin,  which  is  generally  conceded,  they 
were  met  on  this  continent,  in  1192,  by  the  .Taphetic  race, 
after  the  two  stocks  had  passed  round  the  globe  by  directly 
different  routes.  Within  a  few  years  subsequent  to  this 
event,  as  is  well  attested,  the  humane  influence  of  an  emi- 
nent Spanish  ecclesiastic,  led  to  the  calling  over  from  the 
coasts  of  Africa,  of  the  Hamitic  branch.  As  a  mere  histo- 
rical (juestion,  and  without  mingling  it  in  the  slightest  degree 
with  any  other,  the  result  of  three  centuries  of  occupancy, 
has  been  a  series  of  movements  in  all  the  colonial  stocks, 
south  and  north,  by  which  Japhet  has  been  immeasurably 


98     INCENTIVES  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  ANCIENT  AMERICAN  HISTORY. 

enlarged  on  the  continent,  while  the  called  and  not  volun- 
tary sons  of  Ham,  have  endured  a  servitude,  in  the  wide 
stretching  vallies  of  the  tents  of  Shem.* 

Such  are  the  facts  which  lend  their  interest  to  the  eai-ly 
epoch  of  our  history.  They  invite  the  deepest  study.  Ev- 
ery season  brings  to  our  notice  some  new  feature,  in  its 
antiquities,  which  acts  as  a  stimulus  to  thought  and  inquiry. 
It  is  evident  that  there  is  more  aliment  for  study  and  scruti- 
ny in  its  obscure  periods,  than  has  heretofore  been  supposed. 
N'estiges  of  art  are  found,  which  speak  of  elder  and  higher 
states  of  civilization,  than  any  known  to  the  nomadic  or 
hunter  states.  And  the  great  activity  which  marks  the 
present  state  of  antiquarian  and  philological  inquiry,  in  the 
leading  nations  of  Europe,  adds  deeply  to  our  means  and 
inducements  to  search  out  the  American  branch  of  the 
subject.  Man,  as  he  views  these  results,  gathers  n^w  hopes 
of  his  ability  to  trace  the  wandering  footsteps  of  early 
nations  over  the  globe.  There  is  a  hope  of  obtaining  the 
ultimate  principles  of  languages  and  national  affinities. 
Already  science  and  exact  investigation  have  accomplished 
the  most  auspicious  and  valuable  results.  The  spirit  of 
research  has  enabled  us  to  unlock  many  secrets,  which  have 
remained  sealed  up  for  centuries.  History  has  gleaned 
largely  f!-»m  the  spirit  of  criticism  ;  Ethnology  has  already 
reared  a  permanent  monument  to  her  own  intellectual 
labors,  and  promises  in  its  results,  to  unravel  the  intricate 
thread  of  ancient  migration,  and  to  untie  the  gordian  knot  of 
nations.  Shall  we  not  follow  in  this  path  ?  Shall  we  not 
emulate  the  labors  of  a  Belzoni,  a  Humboldt,  and  a  Robinson  ? 


•  Genesis,  9.  27. 


xn- 
lide 


^■ly 


its 

luti- 
sed. 
rher 


